Attorney General Nick Brown, along with a coalition of 21 states, filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) challenging its demand for personal information about millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients.
The lawsuit argues that the USDA’s demand for sensitive data, including social security numbers and home addresses, violates federal privacy laws and exceeds the agency’s statutory authority.
The USDA has threatened to withhold administrative funding if states do not comply, which could severely impact Washington state’s ability to administer SNAP, Brown said.
“The Trump administration’s illegal and cruel action threatens the privacy and well-being of our communities,” Brown said. “Our office will take action to protect Washingtonians from yet more overreach by the Trump administration.”
SNAP is a federally funded, state-administered program that provides billions of dollars in food assistance to low-income families across the United States.
For 60 years, states have administered SNAP, working with the federal government to ensure that only eligible individuals receive benefits.
The USDA described SNAP as having “one of the most rigorous quality control systems in the federal government,” which has never required states to turn over sensitive, personally identifying information without restrictions.
In May, the USDA made an unprecedented demand for states to provide massive amounts of personal information on all SNAP applicants and recipients, dating back five years, according to AG Brown.
This includes data on over 1.2 million individuals in Washington state alone.
The coalition of states, including Arizona, California, and New York, argues that the federal government’s demands fail to meet public comment requirements and violate the U.S. Constitution.
They seek to block the USDA from conditioning SNAP funding on compliance with its demands.
The outcome of the lawsuit remains uncertain, but the coalition aims to protect the privacy of millions of Americans and ensure continued funding for SNAP programs across the states involved.