UPDATE 10/29/2925: Attorney General Brown Sues Trump Administration for Unlawfully Suspending SNAP Benefits, with Governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania joining.
In Maryland, SNAP feeds over 680,000 Marylanders monthly.
In May 2025, Maryland SNAP customers included 262,248 children under age 18; 121,615 seniors aged 62 and older; 128,705 people with disabilities; and 28,843 people experiencing homelessness.
Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined a coalition of 22 other attorneys general and three governors in filing a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Secretary Brooke Rollins for unlawfully suspending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps more than 40 million Americans buy food, due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.
“More than 680,000 Marylanders – including 262,000 children – rely on SNAP to put food on the table,” said Attorney General Brown. “Time is running out to prevent hundreds of thousands of Maryland families from losing access to food. We’re taking the Trump administration to court because Maryland’s children and families deserve better than a federal government that chooses to let them go hungry despite having the resources to help.”
On October 1, 2025, the new federal fiscal year began without an appropriation by Congress to fund the federal government, creating a “government shutdown.”
On October 10, USDA sent a letter to state SNAP agencies saying that if the shutdown continues, there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for the approximately 42 million individuals across the country that rely on them.
Despite USDA’s claim of insufficient funds, Congress appropriated billions of dollars in SNAP-specific contingency funds to the agency for this very purpose. Furthermore, USDA has funded other programs during this shutdown, but has refused to fund SNAP, leaving millions of Americans without the assistance they need to buy food. It is clear the federal government is making a deliberate, unlawful, and inhumane choice not to fund the crucial SNAP program.
The lapse in benefits will have dire consequences for the health and well-being of millions across the country, who rely on the program to feed themselves and their families. This lapse will also put unnecessary strain on state and local governments and community organizations, as families increasingly rely on emergency services and local food pantries that are already struggling to fill a growing nutrition gap.
It will affect our school systems and college and university communities, where food insecurity will stand in the way of educating our students. Suspending SNAP benefits will also harm the hundreds of thousands of grocers and merchants that accept SNAP payment for food purchases across the country. USDA has estimated that in a slowing economy, every $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.54 in economic activity.
While the federal government funds and sets the monthly amount of SNAP benefits, states are responsible for administering programs in their state. Suspending SNAP benefits in this manner is both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. Where Congress has clearly spoken, providing that SNAP benefits should continue even during a government shutdown, USDA does not have the authority to say otherwise. The coalition will also be filing a temporary restraining order later today asking the court to immediately turn benefits back on.
Joining Attorney General Brown in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. The Governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania have also joined.
10/25/2025: Attorney General Anthony G. Brown and 22 other attorneys general sent a letter last week to the Secretary of the USDA Brooke Rollins demanding clarity and additional information on how USDA plans to proceed after alerting states that funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) programs may lapse in the near future because of the ongoing federal government shutdown. The letter also detailed the grave harm that will be caused to children, seniors, and veterans who rely on food assistance for their daily meals.
“Congress set aside billions in emergency funds to keep SNAP benefits flowing even in a government shutdown, ensuring more than 680,000 Marylanders – including nearly 270,000 children – can continue to put food on their tables,” said Attorney General Brown. “We’re demanding answers from USDA about why they’re threatening to make it harder for Marylanders to afford their groceries and feed their families.”
On October 10, 2025, USDA issued a letter to all state agencies and state agency directors that administer the SNAP program. The letter indicated that “if the current lapse in appropriations continues, there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for approximately 42 million individuals across the Nation.” It also “direct[ed] States to hold their November issuance files and delay transmission to State EBT vendors until further notice,” including “on-going SNAP benefits and daily files.”
In other words, without citing any legal authority or providing any reasoning, USDA prohibited states like Maryland from sending already calculated November allotments to EBT vendors for processing. USDA does have some authority to reduce SNAP benefits or even suspend or cancel them under certain circumstances. However, USDA’s October 10 letter does not indicate that any of the legal requirements to do so have been met.
In addition, Congress appropriated at least $6 billion in SNAP contingency reserve funds to USDA for emergency situations like this. The attorneys general argue the federal government should use those funds and any other available funds to continue providing SNAP benefits rather than direct states to suspend already-calculated allotments.
The attorneys general further argue that if carried out, USDA’s Oct. 10 directive will harm millions of Americans and could cause significant hardship for the 42 million Americans who depend on SNAP to feed themselves and their families. Even a temporary delay, which now appears inevitable, will have devastating effects on the American public and the national economy.
Nearly 40% of SNAP recipients in FY 2023 were children ages 0-17, and adults ages 60 and older made up another 20%. SNAP benefits are vital to Marylanders. SNAP helps feed more than 680,000 Marylanders, including nearly 270,000 children, with an average monthly SNAP benefit of just $180 per customer.
The letter sent by the attorneys general asks USDA to answer the following critical questions by October 27, 2025:
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- Does USDA/FNS have contingency funds left over from prior Congressional appropriations? If so, what is the total of those contingency funds?
- Does USDA/FNS have access to any other sources of available funds to pay benefits and administrative costs associated with issuing those benefits?
- Does USDA/FNS intend to use such funds to furnish SNAP benefits, even at a reduced level? If not, why not? And if so, how does the agency intend to execute that plan, and when would States be expected to send their benefit issuance files?
- Assuming USDA/FNS has contingency funds, on what grounds did the agency direct States to “hold” November files, rather than reducing allotments consistent with available funds?
- Should States treat the October 10 letter as a “suspension” of benefits or a “cancellation” of benefits under 7 C.F.R. § 271.7, or neither?
Attorney General Brown was joined in sending this letter by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Connecticut, Illinois, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Michigan, New York, Minnesota, North Carolina, Nevada, Oregon, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Washington.
