A federal judge halted the Trump administration’s effort to force states to comply with new conditions on billions of dollars in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun granted a preliminary injunction against the Department of Agriculture’s SNAP requirements, siding with 20 states and D.C. that argued that the terms threatened to disrupt programs meant to serve low-income families.
The new SNAP terms contain a “vague set of funding conditions relating to USDA’s purported anti-discrimination ‘policies,’ ‘gender ideology,’ ‘fair athletic opportunities’ for women and girls, and immigration,” the states’ complaint reads.
The challenged conditions stem from a USDA administrative directive, known as the “2026 Conditions,” issued at the end of 2025, requiring states to certify compliance with the administration’s policies on “gender ideology,” immigration, diversity, equity and inclusion, and women’s sports as a condition of receiving all USDA funding — not just SNAP.
The Democratic-led states argued the Department of Agriculture 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.”
Federal attorneys argued that the new conditions were implemented to improve oversight of funding, stating 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.”
Judge Joun, appointed by former President Biden, said he would issue a memorandum at a later date to explain his decision.
SNAP benefits, issued to low-income households to help pay for groceries, assist about 39 million Americans — roughly 1 in 9 Americans. This number has nosedived since President Trump came back into office.
The 20 states and D.C. receive over $74 billion annually, which includes SNAP funding, school lunch programs and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
The plaintiffs include Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
New York Attorney General Letitia James celebrated the preliminary injunction, saying, “We won a court order protecting billions of dollars in @USDA funding as our lawsuit continues. My office will keep fighting to protect New Yorkers and stop the federal government from punishing our state for refusing to bend.”
