Coalition Says SNAP Data Case Must Continue, Despite USDA Objections
A group of stakeholders again maintained that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) acted illegally when it demanded that states submit Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipient data, according to federal court documents submitted Friday in a suit that began May 22. Meanwhile, the USDA, also on Friday, asked the court to drop the suit, arguing it's done nothing wrong. The stakeholders demanded the suit should continue.
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USDA's demand for data was in response to President Trump’s March executive order to eliminate information silos. This resulted in a May 6 letter from the USDA to state agency directors asking them to hand over SNAP data (see 2505290019).
However, the stakeholders' court documents said USDA has done nothing to show that a dismissal of the case is warranted.
"USDA’s motion confirms that it reflexively acted, without analysis, to collect SNAP data from states in the wake of President Trump’s government-wide Executive Order directive to 'eliminate information silos,'” the coalition said. "But the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requires agencies to do more than mechanically act in response to executive orders: It requires analysis of statutory authority and limitations, accompanied by a careful examination of facts, and reliance on evidence to justify assertions," and the "USDA did none of that."
The coalition of stakeholders, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), SNAP recipients, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and students from the National Student Legal Defense Network, sued over these actions in May, beginning case 1:25-cv-01650.
On Friday, the USDA asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the case, doubling down on its stance that it has acted legally and alleging the plaintiffs have failed to establish injury.
USDA “has taken lawful and reasonable steps to heed the President’s call to eliminate information silos that choke critical resources from” SNAP, the department said in its court document.
The plaintiffs “fail to establish harm traditionally recognized as providing a basis for lawsuits in American courts” and “fail to show they have been denied information or opportunity to comment to which they are entitled,” USDA added.
The plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block the data demand in May, shortly after the lawsuit, which alleges the federal government violated the Privacy Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act and the APA, among other statutes (see 2505290019).
Separately, a group of 20 states and the District of Columbia filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for Northern California, also alleging the federal government's collection of SNAP data is unlawful (see 2507280065). The states asked the court to block the federal government's demand for SNAP data in case 3:25-cv-06310 (see 2508190046).