Attorney General Phil Weiser sues to block unlawful SNAP eligibility guidance

Nov. 26, 2025 (DENVER) — Attorney General Phil Weiser today joined 21 other attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to stop the federal government from unlawfully cutting off Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for thousands of lawful permanent residents.

Attorney General Weiser and the coalition are seeking to block new guidance from the USDA that wrongly treats several groups of legal immigrants as ineligible for food assistance, including permanent residents who were granted asylum or admitted as refugees. The attorneys general argue that the guidance contradicts federal law and could impose massive financial penalties on states and are asking the court to declare the guidance unlawful.

“The guidance from USDA has caused significant confusion for the states, which have been asked to implement new substantive, erroneous limitations on SNAP eligibility. This guidance will also create widespread confusion for families, increase the risk of wrongful benefit terminations, erode public trust, and place states in an impossible situation where they must either violate federal law or accept severe financial liability. In the end, those who are legally eligible for food assistance will be harmed, and that is why we are filing suit,” said Attorney General Weiser.

On October 31, USDA issued new guidance to state SNAP agencies describing changes to program eligibility under the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which narrowed eligibility for certain non-citizen groups, including refugees, asylum recipients, and others admitted under humanitarian protection programs. The USDA memo, however, incorrectly declared that all individuals who entered the country through these humanitarian pathways would remain permanently ineligible for SNAP food aid, even after obtaining green cards and becoming lawful permanent residents.

This position is not mentioned in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” or in any other federal law, according to the lawsuit. The attorneys general argue that USDA’s memo illegally rewrites federal rules and threatens to cut off food assistance for people who are fully eligible under the law.

The attorneys general argue that USDA’s guidance also misapplies the agency’s own regulations. Federal rules give states a 120-day grace period after new guidance is issued to adjust their systems without facing severe financial penalties. USDA is now claiming that this period expired on November 1, just one day after the guidance was released and before states even had a single business day to review it.

The coalition argues that this interpretation is impossible under USDA’s own regulations. And because the statute also imposes a cost-shifting framework on the SNAP program for states that USDA determines have unacceptable error rates in administering the program, by disregarding its own rules, USDA is exposing states to major financial penalties for errors caused by the agency’s late and inaccurate memo.

States have already begun implementing the statutory changes enacted earlier this year, but USDA’s abrupt and incorrect guidance now forces them to overhaul eligibility systems overnight. The attorneys general are asking the court to vacate the unlawful guidance and block its implementation to ensure that families do not lose critical food assistance.

Joining Attorney General Weiser in this lawsuit, which was led by the attorneys general of New York and Oregon, are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

Read the lawsuit State of New York v. Brooke Rollins (PDF).

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Media Contact:
Lawrence Pacheco
Chief Communications Officer
(720) 508-6553 office
lawrence.pacheco@coag.gov