Attorney General Mayes Demands Answers from Trump Administration on SNAP Funding Due to Lapse at End of Month

PHOENIX – Attorney General Kris Mayes and 22 other attorneys general today sent a letter 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) 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.

“In addition to causing health insurance premiums to skyrocket as open enrollment begins, the GOP-controlled Congress and the Trump administration are now risking the health and safety of tens of millions of Americans, including 900,000 Arizonans who rely on SNAP benefits each month,” said Attorney General Mayes. “As Donald Trump demolishes portions of the White House to build his golden ballroom, families all across Arizona are about to go hungry because of the incompetence and failure of leadership in Washington.”

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 Arizona 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, 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. Furthermore, USDA also has access to Section 32 funds that could also be used to provide SNAP benefits during the ongoing shutdown.

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%. Nearly 30,000 veterans in Arizona have relied on SNAP benefits in recent years.

The letter sent by the attorneys general asks USDA to answer the following critical questions by October 27, 2025:

• 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?

 “Working families, seniors, veterans, and children across Arizona depend on SNAP to survive,” said Attorney General Mayes. “Any suspension or delay in benefits due to the federal government’s failure to act would be a direct assault on the health and well-being of millions of Americans.”

Attorney General Mayes was joined in sending this letter by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Hawai'i, Connecticut, Illinois, Delaware, Maine, 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 is here.