WASHINGTON – About 190,000 people in four Twin Cities metro counties – and perhaps another 250,000 in the rest of Minnesota – will lose their food stamp (SNAP) benefits before the end of the month unless a federal judge intervenes.
The draconian threat to Minnesota’s 450,000 low-income food stamp recipients comes from the Trump administration, which has targeted the state in a growing list of federal investigations.
But the state is fighting back in court, asking for an expedited hearing on a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and an injunction against the threat of a cutoff of funds.
So now the future of the food stamp program in Minnesota is in the hands of a U.S. District judge.
Claiming fraud, the Trump administration has asked Minnesota to recertify the 100,000 households that receive benefits from the federal food stamp program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), in Hennepin, Ramsey, Washington and Wright counties.
In a Dec. 16 letter to Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Agriculture Department Secretary Brooke Rollins demanded that Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth and Families implement a new “pilot program” that entailed the recertification of all of those who receive food stamp benefits in the four counties under scrutiny – within 30 days.
Related: D.C. Memo: Trump adds SNAP fraud accusations to its attacks on Minnesota
In Minnesota, counties administer the SNAP program and, according to Rollins’ directive, each of the counties involved would have to review the eligibility of tens of thousands of recipients – as well as conduct in-person interviews – all within a month. If the counties do not comply, their residents would lose benefits.
Rollins also said that failure to comply with the pilot program “may also affect Minnesota’s continued participation in SNAP.”
In the state’s lawsuit against the USDA, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told the court that compliance with Rollins’ demands is impossible.
He asked the court for “expedited handling and emergency injunctive relief” because of the “immediate and irreparable harm faced by the state” from the cutoff of funds in Rollins’ letter. Minnesota receives nearly $900 million a year for its SNAP program.
“USDA’s demands are impossible for Minnesota to meet and pose an imminent threat to SNAP benefits in Minnesota,” Ellison’s appeal said.
He asked the court to hold a hearing on Friday, Jan. 9, and issue a decision no later than Jan. 15.
Related: Minnesota among five states Trump administration targeting over investigations of social safety net programs
Hennepin County Board Chair Irene Fernando said her county has over 110,000 residents who rely on SNAP to nourish and feed children and low-income families.
“SNAP is an essential and life-changing program,” Fernando said. “The consequences of this pilot could gut support for Minnesota families and make food availability an even more active issue in this state.”
Fernando said Rollins’ “impossible mandate sets Minnesotans against other Minnesotans.”
“Requiring almost 55,000 people to physically come in and recertify in-person is not possible in the timeline we were given,” Fernando said, adding that the consequences “of not meeting this impossible requirement threatens the health and well-being of the entire state.”
Animosity toward Minnesota
The state’s lawsuit against the USDA says Minnesota routinely recertifies SNAP recipients, most commonly every 12 months.
The lawsuit also points out that Minnesota’s “error rate” – the percentage of overpayments or underpayments – in 2024 was 8.98%, lower than the national average of 10.93% and lower than the error rates of 33 other states.
The lawsuit also says the Trump administration has “unlawfully targeted” Minnesota because of “personal animosity toward Minnesota politicians, disagreements with policy choices made by the Minnesota legislature, and bias against Minnesota residents of Somali descent.”
It also said Trump “has repeatedly demonstrated personal animosity toward Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in the 2024 election.”
On Monday, Walz said he would not run for a third term because a widening scandal over fraud in social service programs in Minnesota had persuaded him to drop out of the race.
“I don’t think any governor in history has had to fight a war against the federal government,” Walz said at a Monday press conference.
The Trump administration has unleashed an avalanche of investigation into alleged fraud in the state’s social safety net program. But it’s not clear what kind of wrongdoing the USDA is looking for in the state’s food stamp program.
The USDA did not respond to requests for more information.
Rollins called Walz’s decision not to run again “Great news” on X and said, “It’s about time he steps aside after disgracing his office and failing the great State of Minnesota with his far-left leadership and endless scandals.”
She also posted a copy of her letter and said “@GovTimWalz, there is nothing you can do NOW that changes the fact you stood idly by as criminals stole MILLIONS from the American taxpayer and hungry families. The attached (letter) requires you to verify SNAP recipients in the next 30 days. Tick Tock.”
Minnesota was among the states that sued the USDA previously to stop it from demanding what the states determined was sensitive data about SNAP recipients or face a cutoff of funding. In October, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in the case.
Minnesota also sued over what it said was the USDA’s overreach when it implemented new restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” on SNAP benefits on certain non-citizens, winning a halt to those restrictions.
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