Gov. Kelly might lose in court, but she’s on the right side of SNAP fight | Opinion
I don’t know if Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly will win her new lawsuit against Attorney General Kris Kobach. But I’m willing to bet she’ll claim victory in the court of public opinion.
Kelly is going to court to serve Kansans and their interests.
Kobach? He’s looking out for Donald Trump and the GOP.
Here’s the story: Kelly is supporting a new Democratic-led lawsuit against the Trump administration, seeking to force it to release contingency funds — already approved by Congress — that would keep SNAP food aid flowing to nearly 188,000 Kansans amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.
The suspension of that aid is a real emergency. Food pantries in both Kansas and Missouri are trying to pick up the slack left by the federal government, but the task is overwhelming: They simply can’t make up for all those lost SNAP meals.
“You can’t out-fundraise this problem,” Elizabeth Keever, chief resource officer at Harvesters, told The Star last week.
So why is Kelly suing Kobach in the Kansas Supreme Court?
Simple: The attorney general is standing in the way of the Democratic governor’s legal maneuvers, saying his office — and only his office — can represent the Sunflower State in court.
Maybe he’s right. Maybe not. A court will decide.
In the meantime, tens of thousands of Kansans are in danger of going hungry.
Kelly is trying to help them. Kobach isn’t.
All about the process?
It’s not like Kobach doesn’t know how to sue the federal government. He ran for attorney general in 2022 on a platform that was pretty explicit about his plans to sue the Biden administration.
Kansans voted him into office. And Kobach made good on his promises. Fair enough.
Now that Trump is back in the White House, though, the Republican attorney general appears to have forgotten how to defend state interests against federal overreach. Funny how that happens.
So it’s not really a surprise that Kobach won’t sue the president to unleash SNAP aid. His argument against Kelly’s involvement, though, doesn’t pass the political smell test. It’s all about process, he says.
Kansas law is “crystal clear” that the AG’s office alone decides “what legal positions are taken by the state of Kansas.”
Again: Maybe that’s right.
But it is also an argument that nobody should be trying to help hungry Kansans, at least in court. Which is kind of horrifying when you think about it.
So yeah, we should be rooting for Kelly to win, against both Kobach and Trump.
“Ordinarily, the attorney general is the one who would be filing suits on behalf of the citizens,” Kelly said at a news conference last week, “but in this case, that’s not happening, and so I’m stepping up to make sure that Kansas interests are represented.”
Kobach: Not particularly popular
Kelly, for what it’s worth, remains the most popular political figure in Kansas — at least as far as we know. In the new Kansas Speaks survey from Fort Hays State University, the Democrat outpolled Trump, U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall and the entire Kansas Legislature.
It’s yet another sign the Sunflower State is more moderate than its red state reputation suggests.
The new survey didn’t ask about Kobach’s standing, alas, but the few polling glimpses we’ve seen in recent years suggest the attorney general isn’t particularly popular.
It matters. Kobach is up for reelection in 2026. (Kelly, term-limited, is leaving office.)
Reelection isn’t guaranteed. Kobach has lost a few elections in these parts, after all. When the attorney general hits the campaign trail next year, journalists and voters ought to press him about why he used his office to fight against Laura Kelly instead of battling for Kansans who needed his help.
He might win the legal battle with the governor. Voters will have the final say.
This story was originally published November 3, 2025 at 12:44 PM.
