Attorney General Tong Secures Court Order Protecting SNAP Benefits

Press Releases

12/15/2025

Attorney General Tong Secures Court Order Protecting SNAP Benefits

(Hartford, CT) -- Attorney General William Tong 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 couldn’t get their own story straight, but wanted to penalize states anyway for not following their unlawful guidance that they had already abandoned. We sued, and once again we have a court order blocking Trump from defunding SNAP and using hunger as a political weapon,” said Attorney General Tong.

On November 26, Attorney General Tong 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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