Overview
- The suspension halts all active and future USDA awards to the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis totaling just over $129 million, effective immediately.
- Secretary Brooke Rollins directed officials to submit payment justifications for expenditures from Jan. 20, 2025, to the present within 30 days, with future payments contingent on such documentation.
- USDA cited the Feeding Our Future case—nearly $250 million in alleged fraud with 78 defendants charged—and referenced additional red flags in other social-service programs.
- Which programs will be directly affected remains unclear; reporting notes potential strain on administrative funding, with no definitive indication that individual SNAP benefits have stopped.
- Minnesota officials pushed back, with Attorney General Keith Ellison promising a court challenge, as related federal actions continue, including prior HHS freezes, DOJ reinforcements in the state, and a court’s temporary block of a separate HHS child-care cut affecting multiple states.