New Jersey’s attorney general is among a coalition that filed a lawsuit alleging unlawful suspension of SNAP funding.
Attorney General Matthew Platkin joined 22 attorneys general and three governors in the litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary Brooke Rollins for its actions involving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
SNAP helps more than 800,000 New Jersey residents buy food.
“I thank Attorney General Matt Platkin for taking action to hold the federal government accountable for their betrayal of America’s most vulnerable working- and middle-class families,” Gov. Phil Murphy said.
“New Jersey families are being used as political pawns by the Trump administration, which is illegally suspending SNAP and the critical assistance it provides to residents who are struggling with food insecurity,” Platkin said. “This is especially devastating in the month of November, when families are gathering and demands on food banks and pantries are heaviest. We are standing up for families across our state and fighting to ensure that they continue to have access to food for their households. Our coalition is suing the administration to stop this clear attempt at subverting the authority of Congress and the extreme harms that it would cause in New Jersey.”
The new federal fiscal year began Oct. 1 without an appropriation by Congress to fund the federal government, creating a “government shutdown.”
On Oct. 10, the USDA sent a letter to state SNAP agencies saying that if the shutdown continues, there would be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for the approximately 42 million individuals nationwide who rely on them.
The USDA confirmed its position last week that SNAP allotments would be suspended effective Nov. 1.
Despite USDA’s claim of insufficient funds, the agency has access to billions of dollars in SNAP-specific contingency funds appropriated by Congress for this very purpose, Platkin said.
Furthermore, USDA has funded other programs with emergency funds during this shutdown but has refused to fund SNAP, leaving millions of Americans without the assistance they need to buy food, he said. 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 will 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, Platkin said.
This lapse also will 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 will affect school systems and college and university communities, where food insecurity will stand in the way of educating our students.
Suspending SNAP benefits also will 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.
As of August, there were approximately 812,966 New Jerseyans receiving SNAP benefits, representing 436,452 households, 340,425 children, and 176,706 elderly individuals. The state also is home to nearly 5,700 authorized SNAP retailers.
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 is both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act, Platkin said. 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 will also be filing a temporary restraining order later today asking the court to immediately turn benefits back on.
Joining Platkin in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. The governors of Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania also have joined.