The state of Connecticut is joining with more than two dozen states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration over this weekend's scheduled stoppage of SNAP food benefits.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong says there’s a multibillion-dollar contingency fund for SNAP. But he says the White House is choosing not to tap into it during the government shutdown.
“Willfully and intentionally starving people when federal law says you shall not starve them and you shall provide food to children,” Tong said Tuesday. “When Congress has issued that mandatory command, it is against the law not to do it.”
The Trump administration blames Democrats for the lapse.
On Saturday, millions of Americans who receive SNAP benefits are scheduled to go without payments.
During previous government shutdowns, SNAP benefits continued to go out to recipients.
Tong says the Trump administration is breaking the law by not continuing those benefits despite the ongoing shutdown. He accuses the president of playing politics with peoples’ lives.
“They are weaponizing hunger to serve their political priorities,” Tong said. “It is so wrong, unconscionable, whatever the word is, it’s hard to find the right word, but it’s wrong to starve people so you can bring your political opponents to heel.”
More than 360,000 Connecticut residents receive SNAP benefits – and about one-third of those are children.
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Learn more about the lawsuit from NPR.
