WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, released the following statement on the District Court ruling that the Administration is “required” to provide November SNAP to Americans in need.
“The court’s decision confirms what we have said all week: The administration is choosing not to feed Americans in need, despite knowing that it is legally required to do so,” said Klobuchar. “The court was clear: the administration is ‘required to use those Contingency Funds as necessary for the SNAP program.’ They now have no excuse to withhold food assistance from Americans. If they decide not to issue SNAP, it is purely a cruel political decision, not a legal one. They should immediately act — as the court has required — to ensure food assistance continues to go to families in need.”
Klobuchar previously joined Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research, and 43 colleagues in calling on the USDA to release the funding at its disposal to ensure SNAP is funded in November. Klobuchar also joined Booker in opposing the USDA’s decision not to use available contingency funds to extend SNAP benefits into November, despite having the legal authority to do so.
The Administration itself acknowledged in its now-deleted lapse of funding plan that Congressional intent is evident that SNAP operations should continue since multi-year contingency funds are available to pay for SNAP benefits and state administrative funds in the event of a shutdown.
Klobuchar also joined Luján in leading the entire Senate Democratic Caucus in introducing the Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025, legislation that prevents the Trump administration from illegally withholding available funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Klobuchar also co-sponsors Senator Hawey’s bill, the Keep SNAP Funded Act of 2025.
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