Ellison seeks emergency relief to protect SNAP benefits

Attorney General Keith Ellison (D-Minn.)

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is asking a federal court to block what he calls an “impossible and unlawful” demand from the USDA that threatens food assistance for nearly 450,000 Minnesotans. 

The Trump administration ordered the state to conduct in-person interviews with about 100,000 SNAP households within 30 days or risk losing funding. 

Ellison says meeting that requirement would take 60,000 overtime hours in Hennepin County alone and cost millions. He’s seeking an injunction while the lawsuit proceeds. 

Minnesota House Speaker, Republican Lisa Demuth, says Ellison should “focus on fraud, not suing the federal government.”