AG Brown secures court order protecting SNAP benefits

Attorney General Nick Brown today released the following statement after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to penalize states with millions of dollars in fines related to their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) operations:

“The Trump administration tried to illegally take SNAP benefits from green card holders, despite their lawful status in this country. We sued, and they backed down. Then they tried to charge our states massive fines for not sufficiently implementing the guidance that they themselves have delayed, withdrawn, and reissued because they couldn’t figure out how to do so lawfully. This administration has violated the law time and again, always showing both its malice and its incompetence. Once again, the courts have sided with us and stopped the administration from implementing these illegal fines. We will continue to do everything we can to keep this critical program running smoothly so that Washington seniors, children, and people living with disabilities can put food on the table this holiday season.”

On November 26, Brown joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in suing the Trump administration after it attempted to cut off SNAP benefits for tens of thousands of lawful permanent residents. On December 10, the administration reversed itself and issued new guidance, confirming that lawful permanent residents – including former refugees and asylees – remain eligible for SNAP benefits. Despite that reversal, the administration continued to threaten states with millions of dollars in fines, claiming that states had missed a required “grace period” for implementing the new guidance, even though the final guidance was not issued until December 10.

Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon issued an order temporarily blocking those penalties. The court’s decision prohibits the federal government’s efforts to impose severe financial penalties on states and protects the continued operation of SNAP programs while the case proceeds.

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A copy of the complaint is available here.