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U.S. District Judge Myong Joun granted a preliminary injunction
in the lawsuit challenging the conditions for getting SNAP
funding. Among them are restrictions related to “gender
ideology,” “immigration,” and “fair athletic opportunities” for
women and girls.
The judge said he would issue a memorandum later explaining his
decision.
In their lawsuit, the states argued 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.”
Lawyers for the government opposed the preliminary injunction,
arguing in their court filing 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 is a major part of the U.S. social safety net, helping
about 39 million Americans, about 1 in 9, buy groceries.
Beneficiaries decreased by nearly 4.3 million from January 2025
to January 2026, according to preliminary government data
released by the Agriculture Department. Experts say new
requirements mandated by a massive tax and spending cut bill
Republicans pushed through Congress last summer are the primary
reasons.
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