Federal judge blocks Trump administration from cutting off Minnesota SNAP benefits [View all]
Source: The Hill
01/17/26 2:06 PM ET
A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from withholding tens of millions of dollars in funding for Minnesota’s food stamp program amid widespread claims of fraud.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins directed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) in a letter last month to recertify the eligibility of nearly 100,000 households in four counties within 30 days or risk losing federal funding from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The request came amid an ongoing probe into the state and its welfare programs, which President Trump said in late November had become a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.”
Minnesota promptly sued, arguing that Rollins’ demand was unlawful and went beyond the scope of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) authority. The deadline was “impossible” to meet, and any changes to funding the state’s SNAP funding would “wreak massive harms” on hungry Minnesotans, state Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) argued.
U.S. District Judge Laura M. Provinzino sided with Minnesota, writing in a 50-page order that the USDA had “failed entirely to provide a reasoned explanation for how this pilot project will help it assess fraud in Minnesota,” questioning why a compressed timeline was needed.
Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5694215-judge-bars-trump-administration-cuts-minnesota-food-stamps/
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.229896/gov.uscourts.mnd.229896.44.0.pdf
REFERENCES
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143583793
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143596291
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