Home Economy Economic Activity Neronha joins 21 AGs in lawsuit to reinstate SNAP benefits

Neronha joins 21 AGs in lawsuit to reinstate SNAP benefits

Updated at 2:17 p.m.

By

PBN Staff

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10/28/2025

R.I. ATTORNEY General Peter F. Neronha is part of a coalition of 23 other attorneys general and three governors filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its secretary, Brooke Rollins, for suspending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

PROVIDENCE – R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha on Tuesday joined a coalition of 22 other attorneys general and three governors in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its secretary, Brooke Rollins, for suspending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The coalition, which is seeking a temporary restraining order to reinstate the program, argues

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PROVIDENCE – R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha on Tuesday joined a coalition of 22 other attorneys general and three governors in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its secretary, Brooke Rollins, for suspending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The coalition, which is seeking a temporary restraining order to reinstate the program, argues that suspending SNAP benefits due to the federal government shutdown is both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. On Oct. 26, the U.S. Department of Agriculture posted a notice on its website that said federal food aid will not go out on Nov. 1. The notice came after the Trump administration said it would not tap roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep SNAP benefits flowing into November. That program helps about 1 in 8 Americans buy groceries. “Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the USDA notice said. “At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 1. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats.” The federal shutdown, which began Oct. 1, is now the second-longest on record. While the Republican administration took steps leading up to the shutdown to ensure SNAP benefits were paid in October, the cutoff would expand the impact of the impasse to a wider swath of Americans – and some of those most in need – unless a political resolution is found. Neronha said nearly 150,000 Rhode Islanders and 42 million nationwide rely on SNAP benefits. “When the president and his administration blame lapsing SNAP benefits on the government shutdown, they are lying to you,” Neronha said. “The USDA has billions in contingency funds for this express purpose – so that Americans don’t go hungry waiting for their federal government to get its act together." A USDA memo obtained by The Associated Press that surfaced on Oct. 24 says “contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular benefits.” The document said the money is reserved for such things as helping people in disaster areas. Some states have pledged to continue SNAP benefits even if the federal program halts payments, but there are questions about whether U.S. government directives may allow that. The USDA memo also says that states would not be reimbursed for temporarily covering the cost. Gov. Daniel J. McKee declared a state of emergency Tuesday and announced new actions that would support Rhode Islanders who are losing SNAP benefits. Fellow Democrat and gubernatorial candidate Helena Foulkes urged McKee on Monday to declare a state of emergency. Families, children, and seniors across our state are going to go hungry,” Foulkes said in a statement. “While this crisis stems from decisions made in Congress and by the Trump administration, our state leaders must act now. A state of emergency declaration will mobilize the Rhode Island National Guard to assist with logistics and food distribution, and coordinate our response across state agencies, food banks, community organizations, municipalities, and federal partners to ensure that not a single Rhode Islander goes hungry.” Other states are telling SNAP recipients to prepare for a halt in benefits. Arkansas and Oklahoma, for example, are advising recipients to identify food pantries and groups that provide food to the needy. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., accused Republicans and Trump of not agreeing to negotiate. “The reality is, if they sat down to try to negotiate, we could probably come up with something pretty quickly,” Murphy said on CNN’s “State of the Union." “We could open up the government on Tuesday or Wednesday, and there wouldn’t be any crisis in the food stamp program.” Joining Neronha in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. The governors of Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania have also joined. (UPDATE: Adds McKee declaring state of emergency in 10th paragraph) Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.