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California, along with 18 other Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C., has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from collecting sensitive information about recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Trump administration has requested that states submit this data by Wednesday (July 30) or risk losing federal funding for administering the program.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, leading the coalition of attorneys general, argues that the USDA's demand violates federal privacy laws and the U.S. Constitution. Bonta stated, "President Trump continues to weaponize private and sensitive personal information — not to root out fraud, but to create a culture of fear where people are unwilling to apply for essential services." The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks to block the USDA from conditioning SNAP funding on states' compliance with the data demand.
California receives approximately $1.3 billion annually to administer the program, which provides about $12 billion in food assistance to five million residents. The USDA's request includes personal information such as social security numbers and home addresses of SNAP recipients, dating back five years. This move has raised concerns about privacy and the potential misuse of data for purposes beyond the program's administration.
The USDA claims the data collection is intended to prevent fraud and abuse, but Attorney General Bonta and others argue that these justifications contradict the USDA's own findings. The coalition of states contends that the USDA's actions exceed its statutory authority and violate the Spending Clause. The lawsuit aims to declare the Trump administration's demands unlawful and prevent any withholding of SNAP funding based on non-compliance.