Jeff Jackson announces lawsuit against Trump over SNAP benefits

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina and more than 20 other states are suing the Trump administration for pausing federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Food Assistance Program.

Democratic N.C Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced the lawsuit in a press conference in Raleigh on Tuesday.

“It’s unlawful, and we’re going to do everything we can to fight it,” Jackson said of funds not being released. 

There are 1.4 million North Carolina residents rely on the program to put food on the table, but the Trump Administration said the program will run out of money Saturday unless the federal shutdown ends.

The program still has reserve funds, but Republicans say that money is not legally available because it is reserved for emergencies, like disasters.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson added there “has to be a preexisting appropriation for the contingency funding to be used, and Democrats blocked that contingency.”

But Democrats say the Trump Administration should use the roughly $6 billion that are in the contingency funds for SNAP.

“The department is choosing not to use the emergency money that they’ve been given. I believe the reason they’re doing that is to play shutdown politics. They are looking to ratchet up the pain in a already painful moment. This is wrong and it’s against the law,” Jackson said.

Responding to the lawsuit, Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on CNN, “I find it very rich that they are suing the Trump Administration because their friends on the Hill won’t vote yes to keep the government.”

On Monday, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein posted on X: “The administration’s refusal to use these available funds as temperatures cool and the Thanksgiving holiday approaches is a cruel abdication of the responsibility to support families and communities.”

Last week Jackson signed onto a letter with other state attorneys general asking why reserve funding can’t be used and they laid out a series of questions asking for the agency to respond by Monday.

“We are asking the court to act with emergency speed to meet this emergency. i think there is a very good chance that we get a favorable ruling that puts this on hold relatively soon. I hope that it happens before November 1, there is some chance of this theoretically, but we are asking the court to act as quickly as possible given the circumstances,” he said.