by Donald Eng
The decision by the administration of President Donald Trump to partially fund SNAP benefits during the federal government shutdown is a continuation of a cruel strategy to weaponize hunger for political gain, according to Attorney General William Tong.
A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts ruled Friday that U.S. Department of Agriculture must use its contingency funds — estimated at about $5 billion — to provide benefits during the shutdown. USDA had until the end of the day today to report to the court whether it would partially or fully fund the SNAP program, using additional available funds that have been tapped during prior shutdowns.
The court decision came after a coalition of 26 states sued to restore the benefits.
“Donald Trump is purposely and illegally starving American families for political leverage,” Tong said Monday afternoon. “We sued to force him to release these contingency funds — paid for by taxpayers and obligated by Congress to help Americans buy food at a time when grocery prices are already out of control. Because of our lawsuit, these dollars now will make their way to EBT cards, and that is important relief for the 366,000 people in Connecticut relying on these funds to eat. But this is not close to good enough.”
The USDA plan for the contingency funds is to partially fund the program, providing about half of the normal benefits. The total SNAP benefit varies based in household size and income, but for a family of four averages about $715 a month.
Tong said he and other state attorneys general were evaluating their options to force the administration to fully fund the program that helps feed about 42 million Americans.
Earlier Monday Tong, Gov. Ned Lamont and Sen. Richard Blumenthal had joined advocates at the Hands on Hartford Manna Food Pantry to highlight the pain that the suspension of SNAP benefits would cause the 366,000 state SNAP recipients.
Gov. Ned Lamont speaks about SNAP funding while Sen. Richard Blumenthal looks on at the Hands on Hartford Manna Food Pantry on Nov. 3, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
“People are really hurting as a result of this shutdown,” Blumenthal said. He added that the administration’s withholding of SNAP funds was intended to put more political pressure on Democrats to end the shutdown, but also simply to inflict pain.
“He has stopped the SNAP program even though he has both the authority and the funding to provide it,” Blumenthal said.
Tong was more blunt.
“What the hell are we doing here?” he said. “We should be here feeding people right now. We should have clients, customers, the people that you (food pantry officials) serve getting food so they can feed their families and their children and going on with their day, and most of them (going) to work.”
Lamont, noting the sparsely stocked shelves at the food pantry, said help was on the way as a result of $3 million in assistance the state released to CT Foodshare last week.
“Those shelves will be filled with fresh produce,” he said. “Starting at 4:30 this morning, at Foodshare, eight new trucks loaded with fresh produce, going out and serving hundreds of shelters across the state because the need is real.”