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Democratic States Sue Trump Administration To Release Food Funds Frozen In Shutdown

WASHINGTON ― States led by Democratic governors sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its refusal to pay food benefits to 22 million households next month.

The administration has said it can’t pay the benefits because of the funding impasse in Congress, which has forced federal agencies to furlough workers and halt services not necessary for preserving life or property.

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Democrats have argued the administration ought to be able to use a rainy day fund to pay all or at least some of the roughly $8 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits due to be paid in November.

“While Donald Trump parades around the world trying to repair the economic damage he’s done with his incompetence, he’s denying food to millions of Americans who will go hungry next month,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press release about the lawsuit. “It’s cruel and speaks to his basic lack of humanity. He doesn’t care about the people of this country, only himself.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with Democratic attorneys general from 22 other states, argued in federal court Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, has a legal obligation to pay the benefits.

“USDA not only has authority to use contingency funds, it has a legal duty to spend all available dollars to fund SNAP benefits,” Bonta said.

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A USDA shutdown contingency plan dated September 2025 suggested the agency could use its contingency fund to pay benefits, but the department deleted the memo from its website, which now says “the well has run dry” and there will be no benefits next month.

In an emailed statement, the USDA repeated what it’s said before ― that Senate Democrats need to vote for a House-passed funding bill that they’ve rejected a dozen times so far.

“We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. Continue to hold out for the Far-Left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments,” the USDA said.

Senate Democrats have said they’re holding out for an extension of health insurance subsidies that help 22 million Americans afford health insurance. The subsidies expire at the end of the year, and insurance companies have already begun warning about high premium increases as a result.

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By coincidence, 22 million households, containing 42 million people, could miss out on food benefits starting next week as a result of the shutdown. Federal workers and some SNAP recipients have already been showing up at food banks, which are now bracing for a surge.

The Trump administration has found ways to pay troop and border patrol salaries, and to preserve access to a small nutrition program for women, but insists it can’t do the same for SNAP.

On Tuesday, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) introduced a bill that would fund food benefits during a shutdown.

“We’re here using every possible tool we have to both get the government reopen and address the manufactured food crisis that the administration and the GOP are creating,” Stansbury told reporters.