DC Council takes steps to sue Mayor Muriel Bowser over withheld SNAP allotments

The Washington, D.C. Council is taking steps to file a lawsuit against Mayor Muriel Bowser over withholding increases to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, filing an emergency resolution on Tuesday.

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson circulated the SNAP Litigation Authorization Resolution on Tuesday morning, which allows the council to discuss taking Bowser to court over the withheld allotments — with the plan to take the measure up next Tuesday, according to the resolution obtained by Fox 5 DC.

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This comes after the D.C. attorney general’s office released an opinion memo last week stating that Bowser’s administration cannot withhold additional SNAP allocations and must follow the law to boost benefits in January.

Recipients should still expect their regular allotment of SNAP but were supposed to receive a boost from January 2024 to September 2024 thanks to the “Give SNAP a Raise” bill. It was passed in December 2022 but was not funded by the council until earlier this year. Under the bill, SNAP recipients would collect a 10% enhancement to their monthly payments, or an additional $47 per month, on average.

However, Bowser has refused to enhance aid, citing budgeting and staffing constraints.

“The Council’s position (supported by an opinion by the Attorney General) is that the Mayor may not unilaterally divert or withhold funds appropriated for a purpose expressly established in an appropriations act,” Mendelson wrote to his fellow council members. “As such, the proposed SNAP Litigation Authorization Resolution of 2024 authorizes our General Counsel to initiate or otherwise participate in a lawsuit on behalf of the Council to assert the requirement to disburse the funds as appropriated by the Council.”

Several council members have written public letters criticizing Bowser’s decision to withhold the additional funds.

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“I am exceptionally frustrated by the Mayor’s choice,” At-Large Councilwoman Christina Henderson, who led the “Give SNAP a Raise” bill, said in her public letter. “The Executive has chronically underfunded public benefit enrollment and allotments, and now they claim that they cannot implement Give SNAP a Raise because of spending pressures that they have created.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to Mendelson, Henderson, and Bowser for comment.