(The Center Square) – More than $230 million for North Carolinians in food assistance is sought through a multi-state lawsuit filed Tuesday in Massachusetts.
“Nearly 600,000 children in our state could be without food in a few days because USDA is playing an illegal game of shutdown politics,” said North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a first-term Democrat and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives. “They have emergency money to help feed children during this shutdown, and they’re refusing to spend it.”
Jackson said the U.S. Department of Agriculture “has at least $6 billion in contingency funds from Congress to use in emergencies like this one.”
In a press conference midday, Jackson said, “No matter what your politics, we cannot allow 600,000 kids in our state to go hungry. That’s wrong, and unlawful. And I’m going to fight for them with everything I’ve got.”
Attorneys General Andrea Joy Campbell of Massachusetts, Rob Bonta of California and Keith Ellison of Minnesota lead the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and generally known as Massachusetts v. USDA. Defendants in official capacities are Secretary Brooke Rollins of the USDA and Russ Vought of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, as well as the United States of America.
In part, the lawsuit says, “As of September 2025, there were approximately 1,343,381 persons receiving SNAP benefits in North Carolina totaling $234,431,225, including 581,412 children and 151,793 elderly adults over the age of 65. In federal fiscal year 2025, North Carolina budgeted approximately $196 million in state and county funds to pay for SNAP administration.”
The federal government shut down on Oct. 1 for the first time since a 35-day stoppage bridging 2018 and 2019. At 28 days on Tuesday, this shutdown has already surpassed the 1995-96 stoppage of 21 days for No. 2 in terms of length.
The Republican majority U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution in September. The Republican majority Senate is stalled in filibuster led by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unable to get seven votes to reach the threshold of 60 needed to pass the legislation.
Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the deputy whip in the chamber, in a network interview said, “Shutdowns are terrible, and, of course, there will be families who will suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage points we have.”
Schumer has asked for closed-door meetings with second-term Republican President Donald Trump, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota. Transparency has been Johnson’s repeated response.
In addition to Democrats in the House rejecting the continuing resolution in September, Democrats in the Senate have rejected it 13 times following Tuesday morning’s vote.
Nationally, more than 40 million Americans rely on SNAP.
