Theo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.org.
Updated at 7:34 p.m.
Vermont joined a multi-state lawsuit on Tuesday which seeks to force the federal government to fund its largest food assistance program. Normal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is on hold as the federal government shutdown wears on, and a potential use of contingency funds to temporarily support benefits has been hotly debated in recent weeks.
The federal suit was filed in Massachusetts district court against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark announced Tuesday.
Vermont officials are preparing state-funded stopgap measures for SNAP as states have been informed that federal funding for November will not arrive, and Gov. Phil Scott said Tuesday that he would support such a suit simultaneously.
“We don’t want any Vermonter to go hungry,” Clark said in an interview, adding that federal nutrition assistance is crucial both to individual households and to the state’s food economy as a whole. Over 65,000 Vermonters receive food assistance through 3SquaresVT, Vermont’s version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
President Donald Trump’s administration indicated Friday that the USDA would not be able to use contingency funding to continue dispersing SNAP payments during the federal government shutdown, which is nearing the end of its fourth week. Clark’s lawsuit asks for such a use of such emergency funds to be mandated.
“The president has created a new crisis,” Clark said. “The best case scenario is that (he) comes to his senses … and does what Congress asked him to do.”
Clark’s office joins attorneys general and governors in 25 states and the District of Columbia in filing Tuesday’s lawsuit. In Kansas, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, governors themselves are representing their states in the suit.
The joint lawsuit cites the Administrative Procedure Act, with states alleging that the USDA’s actions are “both contrary to law, and arbitrary and capricious.”
Clark and her colleagues are filing a motion for a temporary restraining order and emergency hearing in the case, seeking to speed along the timeline on which federal SNAP funding resumes for states. The hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
The Vermont Department for Children and Families, which administers 3SquaresVT, received guidance from the USDA on Friday which explicitly stated that contingency funding was not legally available to be used for SNAP because “the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists.” The document appears to make a distinction in applicability for emergency funding between regular benefits like SNAP and “contingencies, such as the Disaster SNAP program.”
“States cannot cover the cost of benefits and be reimbursed,” the guidance continued, reaffirming Vermont officials’ doubts about being paid back for state-level stopgap measures.
The suit comes a day after U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., co-sponsored a bill that seeks to release funds for the USDA to continue operating SNAP without interruption.
The Keep SNAP Funded Act of 2025, introduced by U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., would appropriate both current and retroactive funding as necessary to maintain full operations for the program. The bill has been referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“Vermonters can be really proud that their elected leaders are doing just what they should do,” Clark said. “Each of us … in our own lane is trying really hard to ensure that the SNAP benefits continue and that no Vermonter goes hungry.”
The lawsuit was welcomed by food security advocates in Vermont.
“We commend Governor Scott for directing his administration to work with Attorney General Charity Clark to join a multi-state lawsuit demanding that the federal government release unlawfully withheld SNAP funds,” said Sabina Parker, a spokesperson for Hunger Free Vermont, in a statement on Tuesday. “The federal government has a basic obligation to meet people’s most basic needs, and they are failing to do so.”
Conor Kennedy, a spokesperson for Vermont House Speaker Jill Krowinski, called Clark’s lawsuit a “huge help” on Tuesday. “We’re trying to explore all avenues…to make sure that people have food security,” he said.
State legislative leaders said last week that they were confident about being able to provide a state-funded stopgap measure in November if SNAP funds dry up. The state’s Emergency Board, which includes Scott, will meet tomorrow to discuss proposals for dispersing those funds.
Lawmakers have also been working to provide temporary relief to Vermonters who rely on the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which may also experience a loss of federal funding should the shutdown continue. Tuesday’s lawsuit did not reference LIHEAP, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Tuesday morning, Democrats in the U.S. Senate voted against the Republican bill that would have ended the shutdown for the 13th time, maintaining their position on the urgency of negotiations surrounding expiring tax credits for the Affordable Care Act.
Clark said that while efforts from all political sides are important, it would be most “appropriate” for Vermont not to have to bear the burden of funding food assistance at the state level. The funds that would be directed toward a state-funded stopgap are needed elsewhere, she said.
“I think our lane is the most promising,” Clark said in reference to Tuesday’s lawsuit.
