Attorney General Ellison statement on Trump administration’s refusal to pay full SNAP benefits

USDA to withhold 50% of SNAP benefits for November, refuses to use all funding available to feed hungry Americans, including 440K Minnesotans

November 3, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Today, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) pledged to fund only 50% of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November, despite having the ability to fund full benefits for the American people. USDA’s filing today comes in response to a lawsuit filed against it for illegally withholding SNAP benefits by a coalition of cities and community organizations. USDA is expected to make a similar filing in the lawsuit Attorney General Ellison co-led against it later today.

For years, USDA stated it planned to use a roughly $5 billion contingency fund to provide SNAP benefits during a potential future government shutdown, but within the last month the agency reversed this longstanding position and unlawfully attempted to withhold all SNAP benefits, prompting Attorney General Ellison to file his lawsuit. On Friday, two courts held that USDA must use the contingency fund to continue providing SNAP benefits. The courts also required USDA to state whether it plans to use an additional, much larger fund (the Section 32 fund) to continue providing SNAP benefits after the $5 billion contingency fund is exhausted. 

Today, in its reply to the court, USDA stated it would only provide 50% of the SNAP benefits to which eligible Americans are entitled for the month of November by using the $5 billion contingency fund. USDA also entirely refused to tap into that the much larger Section 32 fund to provide SNAP benefits after the $5 billion contingency fund was exhausted.

“Donald Trump is still using hunger as a political weapon against the American people,” said Attorney General Ellison. “While I am glad to see some SNAP benefits resuming as a result of our lawsuit, it is not close to enough. Trump’s USDA has the ability to provide full benefits to people struggling to make ends meet, yet they are refusing to do so because they want to use those hungry Americans as leverage. Trump is still putting billionaires first and Americans last.”

USDA’s position directly contradicts a post on Truth Social by President Trump, in which Trump claimed, in part:

In reality, USDA’s longstanding position was that it did have the legal authority to pay SNAP benefits using the funds in question. That only changed during President Trump’s shutdown. Additionally, the courts made it clear that USDA has the legal ability to tap into two funds, which would allow it to continue providing full SNAP benefits. President Trump’s USDA is refusing to do so.

An average of 440,000 Minnesotans receive SNAP benefits every month, including over 180,000 children, about 67,000 seniors, and 52,000 people with disabilities.

Background on Attorney General Ellison’s Lawsuit Against USDA

The lawsuit Attorney General Ellison co-led against USDA on October 28 argues that Congress put a rainy-day fund in place so nutrition support could continue during a government shutdown. Despite that clear Congressional intent, Trump’s USDA refused to tap into that fund, claiming there were insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for the approximately 42 million individuals across the country that rely on them.  

The agency has access to billions of dollars in SNAP-specific contingency funds appropriated by Congress for the continuation of the SNAP program in the event of an emergency. On September 30, 2025, the USDA released a plan in the event of a government shutdown. On page 15 of that plan, USDA states that:

This has long been the policy of USDA. During the 2018-2019 government shutdown, and again in preparation for a shutdown in 2021, USDA repeatedly confirmed that contingency funding was available to continue providing SNAP benefits if necessary. For example, in 2019 guidance issued by USDA, the agency noted that “limited funding is available from the contingency that can be used to provide [SNAP] benefits.” USDA has clearly acknowledged that it has the authority to continue providing SNAP benefits during a government shutdown, and that Congress intended for it to do exactly that. Furthermore, USDA has funded other programs with emergency funds during this shutdown, but has refused to fund SNAP.

USDA’s decision not to fund SNAP would leave tens of millions of Americans without the assistance they need to buy food. It is clear the federal government is making a deliberate, illegal, and inhumane choice not to fund the crucial SNAP program.

The lapse in benefits would have dire consequences for the health and well-being of millions across the country, who rely on the program to feed themselves and their families. This lapse would also put unnecessary strain on state and local governments and community organizations, as families increasingly rely on emergency services and local food pantries that are already struggling to fill a growing nutrition gap. It would affect our school systems and college and university communities, where food insecurity would stand in the way of educating our students. Suspending SNAP benefits would also harm the hundreds of thousands of grocers and merchants that accept SNAP payment for food purchases across the country. USDA has estimated that in a slowing economy, every $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.54 in economic activity. 

While the federal government funds and sets the monthly amount of SNAP benefits, states are responsible for administering programs in their state. Suspending SNAP benefits in this manner is both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. Where Congress has clearly spoken, providing that SNAP benefits should continue even during a government shutdown, USDA does not have the authority to say otherwise. The coalition is asking the Court to immediately turn benefits back on to prevent further harm to residents. 

Attorney General Ellison was joined in filing the lawsuit, which he co-led alongside the attorneys general of Arizona, California, and Massachusetts, by the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. The Governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania have also joined.