Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Massachusetts and nearly two dozen other states on Oct. 28 sued the Trump administration to try to force the government to keep funding the food stamp program even if Congress approves no new funding.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must keep funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and 24 other officials, including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and New York Attorney General Letitia James, said in the lawsuit.

“The agency cannot simply suspend all benefits indefinitely, while refusing to spend funds from available appropriations for SNAP benefits for eligible households,” they said.

The lawsuit cited federal law, which states that SNAP benefits “must be furnished to all eligible households.”

Some $5 billion in contingency funds can be used in lieu of new funding from Congress amid the government shutdown, the officials said. The government can also pull from a separate fund that has more than $23 billion in it, they said.

The USDA recently told states not to issue SNAP benefits because of the lack of new funding from Congress. The agency, which administers SNAP with the help of states, said in a memorandum that it could not legally use contingency funds to cover the shortfall in November, which has been estimated at $9 billion.

The officials with states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday asked the federal court in Massachusetts to declare the department’s directive illegal and order the department to furnish benefits already calculated by state agencies for November.

“More than one million people in Massachusetts rely on SNAP to put food on the table,” Campbell said in a statement. “Despite having the money to fund SNAP, the Trump Administration is creating needless fear, angst and harm for millions of families and their children especially as we approach the holidays. It is past time for the Trump Administration to act to help, rather than harm, those who rely on our government.”

Defendants in the suit include the USDA and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The USDA has said it does not comment on pending litigation.

The White House declined to comment.

“Democrats chose to shut down the government knowing full well that SNAP would soon run out of funds. It doesn’t have to be this way,” a spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget told The Epoch Times in an email.

A day prior, food stamp recipients filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court in New York, alleging the USDA illegally terminated a blanket waiver that let adults who are not disabled and do not have any dependents ignore SNAP work requirements.

SNAP participants must work at least 80 hours a month to receive food stamps, unless they are exempt for disability or another reason.

States for years could request waivers for able-bodied adults without dependents in areas with a “lack of sufficient jobs,” with evidence including “a lack of jobs in declining occupations or industries.” States frequently receive waivers. New York has received full or partial waivers since at least 2020.

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, states can only receive the waivers if an area’s unemployment rate exceeds 10 percent. The updated waiver requirements took effect when the bill was signed, the USDA informed states in September.

On Oct. 3, the USDA said that it would terminate any active waivers in 30 days if states did not terminate the waivers themselves. Officials also said states should not seek new waivers.

“Able-bodied adults have ample opportunities to re-engage with their communities even in areas with relatively high unemployment through other activities that meet the requirement,” the agency said. “Additionally, State agencies must screen each work registrant to determine if it is appropriate, based on the State agency’s criteria, to refer the individual to a SNAP Employment and Training program.”

That move violated the Administrative Procedure Act because it was arbitrary and capricious, according to the new suit. Officials also failed to provide a reasoned explanation of the pending termination of active waivers, plaintiffs said. New York’s current waiver was approved on Oct. 2, 2024, and was set to run through February 2026.

“USDA’s unlawful action must not be allowed to stand,” Laboni Rahman, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society, which is representing food stamp recipients and the nonprofit Urban Justice Center-Safety Net Project, said in a statement. “No New Yorker should go hungry because of a thoughtless decision made without regard for the people it impacts.”

About 100,000 SNAP recipients in New York City would be impacted by the termination of the waiver, local officials said.

Plaintiffs are asking a judge to block the USDA from terminating the waiver, pending a hearing on the action.