Federal Judge Halts Trump Administration's SNAP Funding Conditions

BOSTON -- A federal judge on Friday sided with 20 Democratic states and halted an effort by the Trump administration to force states to comply with a range of conditions to get billions of dollars from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun granted a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit challenging the conditions for getting SNAP funding. Among them are restrictions related to “gender ideology,” “immigration,” and “fair athletic opportunities” for women and girls. The judge said he would issue a memorandum later explaining his decision. In their lawsuit, the states argued the Agriculture Department has “thrown unconstitutional and unlawful roadblocks between the programs created by Congress and the States that rely on them, threatening critical nutrition support, vital agricultural research, and the safety of our national food chain and communities.” Lawyers for the government opposed the preliminary injunction, arguing in their court filing that “these new requirements would help promote the sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars, strengthen USDA’s control and oversight of obligated funds, and ensure that grant recipients comply with federal laws, regulations, and policies.”