than 40 million Americans relied on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, each month throughout the 2025 fiscal year to help put food on their tables, the USDA reported. However, access to these benefits may soon end for your friends and neighbors, as Senate Republicans are preparing to oppose a bill that would maintain federal aid for the program, according to Politico. There is also little hope for presidential intervention, as the Trump administration has said it has no plans to tap emergency funds. So, 25 states are responding in the only way they know how: by suing the administration.

So far, 25 states have announced plans to sue the administration to keep the flow of funds to SNAP programs for November and are asking the government to use contingency funds to ensure people still have access to food, CBS reported.

“While Donald Trump parades around the world trying to repair the economic damage he’s done with his incompetence, he’s denying food to millions of Americans who will go hungry next month. It’s cruel and speaks to his basic lack of humanity. He doesn’t care about the people of this country, only himself,” California Governor Gavin Newsom shared in a statement outlining his state’s plans to sue.

Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, added, “When families don’t know where their next meal will come from, our government has failed its most basic duty to care for its people. The Trump administration’s decision to withhold food assistance that’s already been funded has left millions of Americans in fear and uncertainty. As a state, we know we must stand up and fight back.”

Other states joining the effort include Massachusetts, Arizona, Minnesota, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

“Ultimately, the States will bear costs associated with many of these harms,” the states wrote in their lawsuitwhich argues that it is illegal for the federal government to withhold funding for the program. “The loss of SNAP benefits leads to food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition, which are associated with numerous negative health outcomes in children, such as poor concentration, decreased cognitive function, fatigue, depression, and behavioral problems.”

According to The New York Timesthe states are asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to rule by Friday on the use of contingency funds, which amount to between $5 billion and $6 billion and would at least partially pay for benefits for those currently enrolled in the program. However, as Politico noted, even if the administration is required to release these funds, it could take weeks for people to access them.

The USDA issued a strong banner statement on its websitewhich reads, “Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued on November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.”

Food banks nationwide are preparing for a major increase in demand, while states like Connecticut are releasing their own emergency funds to help. However, it likely will be far from enough.

“Food pantries and churches and nonprofits do great work, but they cannot scale up to meet the needs of 600,000 kids who will not have enough to eat starting next week,” North Carolina’s Attorney General Jeff Jackson shared in a statement. “This is the deliberate precipitation of a major crisis.”