Last Friday, the Trump administration announced that it will immediately suspend over $129 million in annual benefits funding from the USDA to Minnesota. This figure includes funding for SNAP benefits.
NCLEJ strongly condemns this wildly illegal and unprecedented action, which was taken by the administration to target their political opponents in Minnesota.
While the administration has no legal mechanism to freeze congressionally approved federal funding to states, we know that the over 440,000 low-income Minnesotans who rely on SNAP will once again face the fear and uncertainty that arise when their access to life-saving food benefits is interrupted.
The USDA Secretary claims fraud in other programs is justification to withhold federal SNAP funding to Minnesota. But fraud is extremely rare among SNAP recipients. Data shows that when overpayments occur in SNAP, they are frequently the result of agency errors and unintentional mistakes by recipients, not intentional dishonesty.
As NCLEJ coordinates with legal services organizations in Minnesota to monitor the impact of this illegal action and weigh potential responses, I urge you to remain engaged. From cutting federal SNAP funding over the next decade to ignoring court orders to fund SNAP during the government shutdown, we can only expect assaults on the social safety net, and the people who rely on it, to worsen under the current administration.
P.S. If you already stepped up to support NCLEJ’s work recently, you can serve as a force-multiplier by spreading the word and forwarding this email to five of your friends!
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice advances racial and economic justice through ground-breaking impact litigation, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizing. We have provided legal representation and support since 1965.
