New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez is among 24 state attorneys general taking the Trump administration to court over its plans to withhold Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in November if the government shutdown continues.
A lawsuit, which is also joined by the governors of Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and White House Office of Management and Budget.
“More than 450,000 New Mexicans rely on SNAP to feed their families, and I will not stand by and watch our people go hungry when Congress has already appropriated billions of dollars in emergency funding to keep food on their tables. At this time, when too many are struggling with rising costs, we should be expanding access to food assistance, not undermining it,” Torrez said in a press release.
The lawsuit asks the court to require the USDA to make SNAP payments to states in November and prevent the USDA from withholding that assistance. Any suspension of benefits, the suit claims, will do irreparable harm to SNAP recipients, vendors who accept SNAP for food purchases, and entities such as food banks and schools.
Plaintiffs state that the USDA has a $6 billion contingency fund that could cover at least some of those payments during a funding lapse, and has used its authority to keep other programs afloat.
The USDA claimed last week in a memo that those funds are insufficient to cover the cost of SNAP benefits and are reserved for food assistance in emergencies such as natural disasters.
“Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 1,” a message posted on the USDA website stated.