“SNAP/EBT Food Stamp Benefits Accepted” is displayed on a screen inside a Family Dollar Stores Inc. store in Chicago, Illinois.
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A group of more than two dozen states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, seeking to maintain funding of so-called SNAP benefits during the ongoing federal government shutdown.
The suit was filed four days after the Trump administration said it would not use emergency funding to maintain benefits during the shutdown from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food stamps to more than 40 million Americans.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said that SNAP benefits will cease Saturday, the lawsuit noted.
“Because of USDA’s actions, SNAP benefits will be delayed for the first time since the program’s inception.”
“Suspending SNAP benefits in these circumstances is both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act,” the states said in the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.
“Millions of Americans are about to go hungry because the federal government has chosen to withhold food assistance it is legally obligated to provide,” said New York State Attorney General Letitia James in a statement on the suit.
“SNAP is one of our nation’s most effective tools to fight hunger, and the USDA has the money to keep it running,” James said. “There is no excuse for this administration to abandon families who rely on SNAP, or food stamps, as a lifeline. The federal government must do its job to protect families.”
CNBC has requested comment from the USDA on the lawsuit.
The department’s website greets visitors with a large message about the discontinuation of the SNAP benefits.
“Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” the page says.
“Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01,” the department said.
“We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats,” the site said. “They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.”
There is no current end in sight for the government shutdown, which began on Oct. 1.
On Tuesday, a Republican-backed House bill that would fund the government temporarily failed to win approval in the Senate for the 13th time.
Nearly all Senate Democrats have refused to vote for the Republican bill because it does not extend enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans.
The enhanced tax credits currently used by about 20 million Americans to reduce the cost of health plans purchased on Obamacare marketplaces are due to expire at the end of the year.
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