BOSTON (AP) — A federal court judge ruled Friday in favor of 20 Democratic states, temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to require states to meet various new conditions in order to receive billions in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program dollars.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun issued a preliminary injunction in the case that contested the funding requirements. The contested conditions include limitations concerning “gender ideology,” “immigration,” and “fair athletic opportunities” for women and girls.
The judge indicated he would release a written explanation of his ruling at a later time.
The states contended in their legal challenge that 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.”
Government attorneys fought against the preliminary injunction, stating in their legal documents 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.”
SNAP serves as a crucial component of America’s social safety net, providing grocery assistance to approximately 39 million Americans, roughly 1 in 9 people. Recipient numbers dropped by almost 4.3 million between January 2025 and January 2026, based on preliminary government statistics from the Agriculture Department. Analysts attribute the decline primarily to new requirements established by a comprehensive tax and spending reduction measure that Republicans advanced through Congress last summer.
