21 States Sue Trump Admin Over Demand for SNAP Data

A coalition of 21 states and Washington, D.C. is suing the Trump administration over a directive requiring states to share private data of millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients with the federal government.

The Details: The lawsuit challenges the Department of Agriculture (USDA) directive by alleging that the demand violates federal privacy laws and the US Constitution. It suggests that it is part of an effort to collect information for immigration enforcement. The lawsuit also asks the court to prevent data from being shared with the Department of Government Efficiency or the Department of Homeland Security for any purpose other than administering the SNAP program. According to the USDA, the goal of the data collection is to help root out fraud in the program.

For Context: In May, the USDA announced its plan to create a database of Americans who receive SNAP benefits, which serves about 42 million people. The USDA, which oversees SNAP, announced the push as part of President Trump's executive order to increase data sharing across federal and state programs. Agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service have been directed to share personal information with immigration authorities in recent months.

How the Media Covered It: CBS News (Lean Left bias) quoted New York Attorney General Letitia James who called the directive “cruel and chaotic.” It also wrote that “immigrants rights experts say it's another attempt at expanded surveillance.” Fox News (Right) also quoted James, and contextualized the disagreement in other Democratic-led opposition to Trump's executive orders. Newsweek (Center) listed the states involved in the lawsuit and the legal implications. It also included two quotes in opposition to the directive, and one from May in support.

Revised by the AllSides staff (of humans) after a first draft from our custom AI. Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.