A federal court has stopped the Department of Agriculture from cutting off billions in federal funding to states that won’t follow Trump administration policies on immigration enforcement and transgender issues.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun issued a preliminary injunction on Friday after attorneys general from 20 states and Washington D.C. challenged the funding requirements. The judge, who was appointed to the Boston federal court by President Joe Biden, said he will release a detailed explanation of his decision later.
“These grants are a lifeline — I’ll always fight to protect food assistance for families,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell wrote on her Bluesky social media account following the court victory.
Neither the Justice Department nor the Department of Agriculture provided immediate responses when asked for comment.
This court decision represents another legal setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to tie federal grant money to the Republican president’s policy agenda.
The coalition of states and the capital district argued that the new Trump requirements threatened Congressional funding designed to provide meals for low-income families and support agricultural producers. States receive over $74 billion each year from the Department of Agriculture.
Late last year, the Department of Agriculture announced that states would need to verify compliance with federal “policies” to continue receiving funding. The attorneys general claimed this requirement was unclear and would force states to follow unrelated directives from Trump executive orders addressing “gender ideology,” immigration matters, transgender athletes, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
According to the plaintiffs, the Department of Agriculture’s new conditions could impact nutrition assistance including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the food stamp program, school meal programs, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. They argued the Department of Agriculture exceeded its authority by imposing these new requirements, which they claim violate the Constitution’s Spending Clause and were implemented without following proper legal procedures.
The Trump administration maintains that since states must follow federal antidiscrimination laws and regulations to receive funding, the same principle should extend to other “policies.”
The lawsuit is titled Commonwealth of Massachusetts, et al., vs. U.S. Department of Agriculture, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts under case number 1:26-cv-11396.
Legal representation for the states includes Nita Klunder from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Vikas Didwania from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, and Brian Bilford from the California Department of Justice. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is represented by Michael Fitzgerald from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
