Court stays Trump Administration demand that states ‘undo’ release of full SNAP benefits after Attorney General Ellison intervenes

Court responds early this morning to motion AG Ellison and coalition filed late last night, in which they argued court should block Trump Administration threat to punish states financially for following a court order and USDA’s guidance, which USDA later went back on

Court found AG Ellison and coalition demonstrate ‘good cause,’ sets hearing for 2:30 pm Central today

November 10, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Early this morning, Judge Indira Talwani of U.S. District Court in Massachusetts stayed a Trump Administration demand that states “undo” the release of full SNAP benefits of November. The court’s stay came in direct response to a further motion for Temporary Restraining Order that a coalition of 23 attorneys general and three governors, which Attorney General Ellison co-led, filed late last night. In their motion last night, Attorney General Ellison and coalition asked the federal court in Massachusetts to block the Trump Administration’s November 8 directive to claw back full SNAP benefits that were authorized in response to a court order in Rhode Island. The directive was also contrary to guidance that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) itself issued one day prior. 

In staying the USDA directive this morning, the court found that Attorney General and the coalition demonstrated “good cause” for the stay and ordered a hearing on the issue for 2:30 pm Central Time today. The court’s stay is available here at Document Number 83.

This is the latest development in Attorney General Ellison’s and the coalition’s ongoing lawsuit against the Trump Administration for unlawfully suspending Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for more than 42 million Americans who rely on the program for food.

“While reports pile up from every part of the country about the hunger and misery that Donald Trump is forcing 42 million Americans into, this weekend Trump went golfing in Florida. We are seeing that there are no depths to which Trump will not stoop to enrich billionaires and make sure hungry Americans starve — while rubbing their faces in it,” Attorney General Ellison said. “I’m grateful the court has granted our motion to stay USDA’s outrageous directive. This coalition and I will keep fighting this administration’s cruelty and lawlessness with every tool we have.”

On November 7, after the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island ordered USDA to make full SNAP benefits available to the states, USDA informed states that it was complying with the Court’s order and completing the processes necessary to make full SNAP benefits available. As a result of the Court’s order and USDA’s guidance, Minnesota and other states took action to authorize the release of full SNAP benefits for their residents.  

On November 8, just one day later, after successfully filing an emergency application with the Supreme Court to block the lower court’s order, USDA abruptly demanded that states “undo” the efforts taken to administer full SNAP benefits. The federal government threatened to hold states financially liable for taking steps to process full benefits for their residents.  

In the motion for further temporary restraining order filed late last night, Attorney General Ellison and the coalition argued that USDA has once again placed impossible burdens on states and that the court must block USDA’s November 8 demand, which the court did early this morning.

Approximately 440,000 Minnesotans rely on SNAP benefits every month to put food on the table: this includes about 180,000 children, 67,000 seniors, and 52,000 people with disabilities. On average, Minnesotans on SNAP receive $5.46 a day to feed themselves.

Joining Attorney General Ellison in submitting the further motion for a TRO were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, along with the governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.