Illinois joins lawsuit to force federal government not to pause SNAP
benefits
[October 29, 2025]
By Ben Szalinski
Illinois joined 24 other states and the District of Columbia in suing
the Trump administration over plans to stop funding the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program on Saturday as the federal government
shutdown continues.
About 1.9 million people in Illinois, and about 42 million people across
the country, depend on SNAP benefits, otherwise known as food stamps,
each month. The state administers $350 million in SNAP benefits each
month to low-income or other qualifying individuals, according to the
Illinois Department of Human Services. Forty-five percent of SNAP
households include children, and 44% include a person with a disability.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced earlier this month that it
will not have money to pay SNAP benefits in November if the government
remains shut down on Nov. 1. The U.S. House is not scheduled to be in
session this week, meaning SNAP funding is certain to run out at the end
of the month.
The government shutdown began on Oct. 1.
The lawsuit argues the USDA does have money to continue paying benefits
in November. It claims Congress has appropriated contingency funds for
emergencies such as a government shutdown that USDA can tap into now to
continue funding SNAP.
“At a time of increased costs for families, the Trump administration is
making a deliberate, illegal and cruel decision to cut off access to
food for nearly 2 million Illinoisans,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul
said in a statement.
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Illinois Attorney General listens during a May House floor debate of
a bill subjecting gun dealers and manufacturers to civil action if
they use deceptive marketing practices. (Capitol News Illinois photo
by Jerry Nowicki)
Gov. JB Pritzker said last week the state is looking at ways to help
people affected by the program’s pause, but options are limited because
the federal government pays all the benefits for the program.
President Donald Trump’s decision to continue paying certain groups of
federal works while programs like SNAP have been stopped has angered
many Democrats. The president said a mystery donor — later revealed to
be Timothy Mellon, an heir to the influential Mellon family — is giving
$130 million to pay the military during the shutdown.
It’s not clear when Congress will be back in session as the parties
remain at odds over health care funding. The shutdown will become the
longest in U.S. history if it extends beyond Nov. 4, breaking the record
of another shutdown that began in 2018 during Trump’s first term.
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