Full SNAP benefits restored to Minnesotans after Attorney General Ellison sues

Benefits should be available as early as today for 440K Minnesotans as part of nationwide restoration for 42M Americans

AG Ellison co-led lawsuit of 26 states as part of 10 days of litigation in two federal courts, both of which ordered Trump Administration to pay benefits it held as hostage during federal government shutdown

AG Ellison: ‘It should never have come to this — Donald Trump chose to hold hungry Minnesotans hostage, making sure they stayed hungry while billionaires got richer literally by the second”

November8, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Full SNAP benefits for November have been restored to Minnesotans and Americans in all states, after 10 days of litigation in two courts that began with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison co-leading a coalition of 23 attorneys general and three governors on October 28 in suing the Trump Administration over illegally suspending November SNAP benefits during the federal government shutdown. As a result, the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is issuing full November SNAP food benefits, and Minnesotans will begin to see benefits on their EBT cards as early as today, Saturday, November 8. Minnesota DCYF continues to monitor the situation closely.

“It should never have come to this,” Attorney General Ellison said. “In past federal government shutdowns, SNAP benefits have been fully funded — but this time, Donald Trump chose to hold hungry Minnesotans hostage, making sure they stayed hungry while billionaires got richer literally by the second. I’m relieved our lawsuit to hold Trump accountable for this illegal and shameless behavior is helping to feed our neighbors, friends, and loved ones in Minnesota — and still outraged at his and his administration’s cruelty and lies. I will never stop fighting to unrig this economy and the powerful interests — including in the White House — that profit off it while Americans suffer.”

Approximately 440,000 Minnesotans rely on SNAP benefits every month to put food on the table: this includes about 180,000 children, 67,000 seniors, and 52,000 people with disabilities. On average, Minnesotans on SNAP receive $5.46 a day to feed themselves.

The approximately $73 million that Minnesota receives in SNAP benefits each month also helps Minnesota’s economy grow: the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, has estimated that in a slowing economy, every $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.54 in economic activity. 

History of Attorney General Ellison’s SNAP litigation

On October 28, Attorney General Ellison and a coalition of 26 states sued the Trump Administration in federal court in Massachusetts for illegally suspending SNAP benefits during the shutdown. On October 31, they won an order requiring the government to use a contingency fund to pay for November SNAP benefits, and on November 6, they asked the court to require the government to fully fund SNAP during the shutdown. Separate litigation in federal court in Rhode Island, led by local governments and nonprofits, produced similar results in that court. Yesterday, November 7, Attorney General Ellison and the coalition filed an amicus brief in support of those plaintiffs at the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

Joining Attorney General Ellison in the litigation he co-led are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, and the governors of Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.