Attorney General Tong Asks Court to Compel Trump Administration to Deliver Full SNAP Benefits

Press Releases 11/06/2025 Attorney General Tong Asks Court to Compel Trump Administration to Deliver Full SNAP Benefits (Hartford, CT) -- Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia in filing a response to the federal government's decision to only partially fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for the 42 million Americans relying on it. Under the federal government's current plan, SNAP benefits would only be partially funded using the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) SNAP contingency fund. The coalition argues that the federal government has created chaos and delay with the roll-out of partial benefits, has the money to fully fund the program, and is legally required to do so. "We are back to court today to force Donald Trump to fully fund SNAP and to stop the President from purposely and illegally starving American families for political leverage. He has the funds and the authority to fully fund SNAP today. He can do this right now. But he is choosing to bog this down in needless red tape and overly complicated calculations because he wrongly believes maximizing pain is good for his politics. This is cruel, this is wrong, and we're asking the court to end this chaos and force Trump to what he should have done from day one-fully fund SNAP and get American families the help they need immediately," said Attorney General Tong. In their brief, the coalition argues that USDA's unacceptable delays and needlessly complicated calculation of reduced benefits is untenable and unlawful. It is clear that issuing full benefits is the only way to prevent further irreparable harms to states and their residents. As such, the coalition is asking the Court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order compelling the federal government to pay full benefits. The coalition's brief comes as part of an ongoing lawsuit joined by Attorney General Tong against the Trump Administration for suspending SNAP benefits in a manner that is both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. Twitter: @AGWilliamTong Facebook: CT Attorney General Media Contact: Elizabeth Benton [email protected] Consumer Inquiries: 860-808-5318 [email protected] Twitter Facebook Email Print