Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell has led a coalition of 22 attorneys general and three governors in seeking a temporary restraining order against the Trump Administration. The legal action challenges the federal government’s recent move to suspend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for over 42 million Americans.
The motion, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, aims to block directives from the Trump Administration that would require states to reverse their issuance of full SNAP benefits. These benefits had been authorized following a court order in Rhode Island and guidance from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“When Massachusetts authorized full SNAP benefits to our residents – something the federal government should have done weeks ago – we were following a court order and USDA’s own guidance,” said AG Campbell. “The federal government cannot claw back these critical resources from the children, elders, veterans, and people with disabilities who need them, nor can they punish our states for taking the necessary steps to process benefits for our residents. We’ll continue to fight in court until this Administration stops using our residents as political bargaining chips.”
On November 7, after a Rhode Island district court ordered USDA to make full SNAP benefits available, USDA notified states it was complying with the ruling and moving forward with processes needed to distribute those benefits. Following this guidance, Massachusetts and other states authorized full SNAP benefit releases.
However, one day later—after obtaining an emergency Supreme Court application blocking the lower court’s order—the USDA instructed states to “undo” their efforts to administer full SNAP benefits. The federal government also warned that states could be held financially responsible for actions taken to process these payments.
In their request for a temporary restraining order, Campbell and her colleagues argue that USDA’s November 8 directive imposes unworkable demands on state governments and should be halted by the court.
Other officials joining Campbell include attorneys general from Arizona, California, Minnesota, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington State and Wisconsin; as well as governors from Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
