HARTFORD, CT — As the federal shutdown enters its fourth week, a coalition of 21 state attorneys general, including Connecticut’s William Tong, and three governors has sued the Trump administration, alleging it unlawfully halted food assistance for more than 40 million Americans.
The lawsuit names President Donald Trump, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, claiming they violated federal law by refusing to use contingency funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The states argue that SNAP funding is mandatory and that the USDA must draw from emergency reserves when appropriations lapse. Failing to do so, they contend, will leave millions of low-income families, seniors, and children without resources to buy food beginning November 1.
“There are billions of dollars in contingency funds, paid for by taxpayers and appropriated by Congress, sitting there to help American families buy food,” Tong said at a press conference in Hartford. “The administration is choosing not to use them.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana reportedly told his caucus Tuesday that there was no plan to pass legislation funding the program, believing the tactic would increase pressure on Congressional Democrats.
On October 10, the USDA told state agencies that SNAP benefits could not be issued beyond October due to a lack of appropriated funds. The department cited the shutdown and absence of a budget agreement as reasons for the suspension. The states dispute that claim, arguing the USDA is making a “deliberate and unlawful choice” to withhold funds Congress already set aside for emergencies.
In Connecticut, about 366,000 residents rely on SNAP each month, including 120,000 children. The state receives roughly $72 million in federal aid monthly, distributed through more than 2,500 grocery retailers. Each dollar in SNAP benefits generates about $1.50 in economic activity, according to the Connecticut Department of Social Services, meaning the halt could ripple through local economies and strain small businesses that accept electronic benefit cards.
Emily Byrne, executive director of Connecticut Voices for Children, said the impact extends beyond hunger.
“SNAP is a proven anti-poverty program that helped nearly half a million Connecticut residents last year,” she said. “Stopping these benefits will disrupt the supply chain and hurt small businesses that depend on SNAP customers.”
State Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, D-Avon, likened the nation’s food system to a game of Jenga, saying that removing SNAP dollars would cause “the whole structure to fall.”
State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, called the situation “a humanitarian crisis,” describing food pantries already running bare as families grow desperate, and Rep. Kate Farrar, D-West Hartford, said no Connecticut resident “should be wondering how to feed their family.”
The lawsuit seeks an emergency injunction ordering the USDA to release funds immediately. It argues the suspension is “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act and inconsistent with Congress’s intent to ensure uninterrupted food aid during shutdowns. The coalition will also be filing a temporary restraining order asking the court to immediately turn benefits back on.
Members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation have backed the lawsuit. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal accused the administration of “deciding to let people starve when there is a contingency in place to prevent it.” Fellow Democratic Senator Chris Murphy called the USDA’s decision “illegal,” and Representative Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd, said Congress had already appropriated funds for November benefits.
Representative Jahana Hayes, D-5th, ranking member of the subcommittee on nutrition, led a letter signed by more than 200 House Democrats urging the USDA to continue payments. Hayes recalled being sworn into Congress during the 2019 shutdown, when the USDA used advance funding to sustain SNAP benefits.
“We know this can be done,” she said, “The question is whether there is the will to do it.”