Shoppers inside a grocery store in the Bronx borough of New York City on Oct. 24, 2025. Photo: Kena Betancur/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Washington and two dozen other Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration yesterday to force it to resume food stamps payments as the government shutdown drags on.
The big picture: Roughly 42 million Americans rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the Department of Agriculture has warned benefits will stop Nov. 1.
The coalition, led by the attorneys general and governors from 25 states and the District of Columbia, filed the lawsuit in Massachusetts, arguing that the administration is withholding up to $6 billion in emergency funds to sustain SNAP benefits.
What they're saying: "SNAP benefits help ensure that nearly a million Washingtonians — seniors, children, and people living with disabilities — have enough to eat every day," Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a news release yesterday.
"Trump is picking and choosing what gets funded and what doesn't during the shutdown."
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson said if the USDA refuses to use the $6 billion emergency fund, it "would be the department effectively overriding Congress."
By the numbers: More than 900,000 Washington residents — including 300,000 children — receive SNAP benefits, state officials said.
The other side: "Democrats chose to shut down the government knowing full well that SNAP would soon run out of funds," a spokesperson for the federal Office of Management and Budget said.
"It doesn't have to be this way, and it's sad they are using the families who rely on it as pawns."
