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A coalition of California and other liberal-led states filed a federal lawsuit Monday, challenging the US Department of Agriculture’s recent demands and handing over the personal information of millions of people receiving federal food support through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
USDA Secretary Brook L. Rollins informed the state earlier this month that data must be sent to USDA Food and Nutrition Services to comply with President Trump’s executive order. The order required Trump’s agency appointees to receive “full and prompt access” to all data related to the federal program, allowing them to identify and eliminate “waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Last week, USDA officials notified the state’s SNAP director that the deadline for submitting data is Wednesday and it cannot be complied with the “potentially causing non-compliance procedures” including withholding funds.
As they announced the state lawsuit Monday in Atty, California. General Rob Bonta said the “unprecedented” demands “violate all kinds of state and federal privacy laws,” and “further breaks the trust between the federal government and the people it serves.”
Bonta’s Office noted that for 60 years the state has managed the equivalent of SNAP’s benefits (formerly known as food stamps). California alone has received “about $1 billion a year” to manage programs within the state, saying that “the delay in funding could be devastating for a state that relies on snaps to put food on the table.”
Since its inception in 2020, the USDA has requested data from all current and previous SNAP recipients, including “names, date of birth, social security numbers, housing and mailing addresses of all household groups,” including “transaction records from each household.” It also said it may gather information about people’s income.
Meanwhile, the agency’s Privacy Impact Assessment also showed that it also collects data on people’s education, employment, immigration status and citizenship.
The USDA and other Trump administration officials say the initiative will save taxpayers money by eliminating “information silos” that allow for nullification and fraud in federal programs.
“It is essential that USDA eliminates bureaucratic duplication and inefficiency and has point-in-time information, as well as enhance the government’s ability to detect overpayments and fraud.”
Pursuing what Trump calls the biggest massive deportation of undocumented immigrants in the country’s history, the Trump administration is requesting sensitive data from other federal programs and services, including Medicaid and the IRS, to share with immigrant staff.
It sparked vigilance among Democrats who said that by linking such services to immigration enforcement, it puts people’s health at risk and reduces tax revenue. Earlier this month, California sued the Trump administration for sharing Medicaid data with immigration and customs enforcement.
On Monday, Bonta raised a similar alarm about the administration’s request for SNAP data, questioning what they would do with the information and how families relying on such support would respond. His office said it appears to be the “next step” of the administration’s anti-immigration campaign.
“President Trump continues to arm private and sensitive personal information to create a culture of fear that people don’t want to apply for essential services, rather than eradicating fraud,” Bonta said. “We’re talking about kids not having lunch at school. Fire victims have no access to emergency services. Other catastrophic and fatal consequences.”
Bonta said USDA demand for SNAP benefits data is illegal under established law and “doesn’t comply” while California brings the administration to court.
“The president can’t change the rules midway through the game, no matter how much he wants it,” Bonta said. “He may comfortably break his promise to Americans, but California isn’t.”
New data collection is not following established processes for the federal government to audit state data without collecting wholesale. During the recently concluded public comment period, Bonta and other liberal lawyer generals submitted comments claiming that data demand was in violation of privacy laws.
“The USDA needs to reconsider this flaw and illegal proposals and instead work with the state to improve the efficiency and integrity of the program through a robust process already in place,” they write.
Last week, California and other states sued the Trump administration over new rules that would prohibit undocumented immigrants from accessing more than 12 other benefits benefits programs, including Head Start, Short-Term and Emergency Shelter, Soup Kitchen and Food Bank, Healthcare Services and Adult Education Programs.
The state did not include USDA in its lawsuit despite issuing similar notices. “Many USDA programs are subject to independent legal requirements to provide a specific benefit program to everyone regardless of citizenship,” it wrote.
Bonta announced the lawsuit on Monday along with New York Atti. General Leticia James. Participants in the lawsuit include Kentucky Governor Andy Besher, Columbia District of Arizona, Colorado, Columbia District, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Mainland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Jersey, Washington, New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey, and Kentucky.
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