With SNAP Benefits Under Threat, Attorney General Bonta Demands Answers from Trump Administration

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today co-led a coalition of 23 attorneys general in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins, expressing grave concerns about a potential lapse in issuance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the month of November. On October 10, 2025, state agencies received a letter from the USDA (1) stating 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”; (2) directing “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”; (3) explaining that it had just “begun the process of fact finding and information gathering to be prepared in case a contingency plan must be implemented.” Two weeks later, the USDA has not provided the states with an update on that contingency plan. In today’s letter, and with no end in sight to the current government shutdown, the attorneys general demand clarity and additional information on how USDA plans to proceed.

“Forty-two million individuals in the United States, including approximately 5.5 million Californians, use SNAP benefits to feed themselves and their families. In yet another new low, those critical benefits are now at risk thanks to the Trump Administration. Every American — Democrat, Republican, and Independent — should be outraged,” said Attorney General Bonta. “When will the President actually focus on ending the government shutdown? Day after day, his attention seems to be directed elsewhere, most recently toward his new $250 million White House ballroom. Today, my fellow attorneys general and I are calling on his U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide us with answers. SNAP benefits should never be an afterthought — protecting the families who rely on these benefits to keep food on the table must be a priority.” 

SNAP provides monthly food benefits to low-income families in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In California, SNAP is known as the CalFresh Program and is administered by the California Department of Social Services. 63.2% of SNAP participants in California are children or elderly. On October 20, in response to the USDA’s October 10 letter, the California Department of Social Services sent a letter to all counties in the state, informing them of the need to prepare for a delay of SNAP benefits for the month of November.

In today’s letter to Secretary Rollins, the attorneys general underscore that:

• The legal basis for, and implications of, USDA’s directive are unclear. In the October 10 letter, USDA prohibited states like California from sending already calculated November allotments to EBT vendors for processing. While USDA does have some authority to reduce SNAP benefits, or even suspend or cancel them under certain circumstances, the October 10 letter does not indicate that any of the legal requirements to do so have been met. In addition, USDA appears to have at least $6 billion (and perhaps more) in SNAP contingency reserve funds that Congress appropriated for emergency situations like this. The attorneys general argue the federal government should use those funds to continue providing SNAP benefits rather than direct states to suspend already-calculated allotments. USDA also has access to Section 32 funds that could also be used to provide SNAP benefits during the ongoing shutdown.
• USDA’s directive to “hold” November files will harm millions of Americans. Those affected by USDA’s unexplained “hold” include some of our Nation’s most vulnerable populations. In Fiscal Year 2023, children — from babies to 17 years old — comprised nearly 39% of SNAP recipients, and adults aged 60 and old made up nearly 20%. Further, a discouraging number of veterans — nearly 84,931 in California in recent years — live in households that depend on SNAP for their nutrition needs.
• States and SNAP recipients need additional information and clarity about how USDA plans to proceed. Specifically, the attorneys general ask USDA to answer the following questions by October 27, 2025: 
• Does USDA/the Food and Nutrition Service (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 source(s) of available funds to pay benefits, including but not limited to Section 32 funds?  
• 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 plan 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 a “suspension” of benefits, a “cancellation” of benefits under 7 C.F.R. § 271.7, or neither? 

Joining Attorney General Bonta in sending today’s letter are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Hawai'i, Connecticut, Illinois, Delaware, Maine, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Michigan, New York, Minnesota, North Carolina, Nevada, Oregon, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Washington.

A copy of the letter can be found here.