Over Two Dozen States Sue White House Over Food Stamps

The prospect of 42 million Americans losing their federal food benefits because of the government shutdown is now in the hands of the courts. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia filed suit on Tuesday, asking a federal judge to require the Trump administration to use emergency reserves to continue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments, reports the New York Times. The SNAP benefits, aka food stamps, are otherwise set to lapse on November 1, per the Hill.

In their lawsuit, the states argue that the federal government is legally obligated to keep the program operational. "There is no excuse for this administration to abandon families who rely on SNAP," said New York Attorney General Letitia James. Other states on board are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, per the New York Post.

Currently, about one in eight Americans relies on SNAP, with average monthly benefits of $187 per person and a program cost of $8 billion a month. Although SNAP has a reserve fund estimated at $5 billion to $6 billion—enough to provide at least partial benefits—the Trump administration has declined to tap into it. The Agriculture Department has maintained that the reserves can be used only for events such as natural disasters, per the Times. The administration's decision comes despite bipartisan calls in Congress to use the contingency funds.