Attorney General Bonta Supports Minnesota's Fight Against USDA's Attacks on SNAP

Celebrates preliminary injunction blocking Trump Administration’s latest illegal action. 

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today celebrated a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota preliminarily enjoining the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) demand that Minnesota either recertify 100,000 households for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility within 30 days or face draconian financial penalties, and even possible termination from the SNAP program. USDA’s ultimatum is one of many recent efforts by the Trump Administration to use unsubstantiated allusions to and allegations of “fraud” as an excuse to punish Democratic-led states and the residents who call them home. Attorney General Bonta last night joined a coalition of 17 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in support of Minnesota, arguing that USDA's recertification demand violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution’s Spending Clause, and is inconsistent with the federal-state partnership reflected in the statues governing SNAP.

“The Trump Administration continues to let his petty, political agenda undermine a vital nutrition assistance program that provides a safety net for millions of Americans,” said Attorney General Bonta. “SNAP helps ensure children across the country do not attend school on empty stomachs, that seniors get the nutrition they need, and that working families have the ability to thrive. The USDA’s demand that Minnesota re-certify 100,000 households in only 30 days disregards decades of established procedures and timelines, without warning or good reason. It’s also impossible to fulfill, as the Trump Administration well knows. The Trump Administration needs to stop putting politics ahead of people and punishing states for serving their residents.  I’m glad to see a court, once again, put a stop to its nonsense.” 

For more than 60 years, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has been the country’s primary weapon against hunger and an important safety net for low-income Americans, providing monthly food benefits to eligible households. In 2024 alone, SNAP helped more than 41 million people avoid food insecurity. More than 62% of SNAP participants are members of households with children, and more than 37% are members of households with seniors or disabled individuals. Since SNAP’s inception, the federal government and state agencies have worked together to build a robust process for ensuring that only eligible individuals receive benefits. In fact, the USDA itself has described SNAP as having “one of the most rigorous quality control systems in the federal government.”

The Trump Administration’s demand that Minnesota recertify 100,000 households during a single 30-day period is impossible to meet. Typically, states recertify SNAP recipients on a rolling basis as households come up for recertification throughout the year, which makes the task manageable. Large and small states alike are not equipped to carry out the enormous and unprecedented task of conducting in-person interviews and recertifying huge numbers of households all at once. If USDA imposed similar demands on other states, they would need to devote an enormous amount of resources to SNAP recertifications, diverting attention from new SNAP applications and putting other strains on social service programs. Mass recertification on a compressed timeline would also inevitably result in more mistakes being made, possibly causing some households to erroneously lose their SNAP benefits or see their benefit allotments reduced. Upending the existing recertification process and forcing recipients to recertify ahead of schedule without warning or good reason would also undermine public trust that state agencies have built up over time, and ultimately lead to fewer eligible households enrolling in SNAP and other social service programs.  

In the amicus brief, the coalition argues that the recertification demand is unlawful and undermines the federal-state partnership by: 

• Upending the existing recertification system by forcing recertifications of all households in four of Minnesota’s largest counties by January 15, 2026. 
• Forcing a state to take part in a “pilot project” against its will or lose statutorily mandated federal funding. 
• Using unsupported allegations of widespread “fraud” in federal benefits programs to justify dramatic program cuts and penalties against Democratic-led states. 

Attorney General Bonta has vigorously defended SNAP recipients from attacks by the Trump Administration. In July 2025, Attorney General Bonta sued USDA for demanding that states turn over personal and sensitive information of millions SNAP recipients. He subsequently secured a preliminary injunction blocking the unlawful data grab, and more recently, filed a motion to enforce the court’s order and reject the Trump Administration’s renewed demand for the data.

During the recent government shutdown, Attorney General Bonta sued USDA again, this time to force it to fund November SNAP benefits. Not one, but two federal district courts determined that the Trump Administration acted unlawfully by suspending SNAP benefits for the first time ever. And when the Administration responded by asking the U.S. Supreme Court to pause one court’s order requiring USDA to pay full benefits, Attorney General Bonta vigorously challenged that request, which was ultimately withdrawn after the government reopened. The SNAP program is now fully funded through September 2026. 

That same month, Attorney General Bonta sued USDA a third time over guidance that erroneously excluded certain lawfully residing non-citizens from SNAP eligibility. In response to that lawsuit, USDA backed down and issued correcting guidance, and a district court issued a preliminary injunction requiring that the agency adhere to its own regulations that provide for a 120-day “hold harmless” period.

In filing the amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Nevada, New York, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.