Judge Clears Pa. to Join States in Temporary Block of Feds' SNAP Data Demand
A federal district court in California granted Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D) request to be included in a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop it from demanding the state-held sensitive, personally identifiable information (PII) of millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients.
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Shapiro asked the court to modify the TRO and was supported by the plaintiff states in a court document filed Sept. 22. The U.S. District Court for Northern California originally granted the TRO on Sept. 19, finding that the plaintiff states were likely to succeed in their claims that the USDA’s actions in demanding the SNAP data violate the law (see 2509190015).
The coalition of 21 states, plus Washington, D.C., had asked the court for a TRO on Aug. 18 (see 2508190046). Though Nevada was part of the lawsuit in case 3:25-cv-06310, it was not covered by the TRO since it had already shared state-held SNAP data with the USDA (see 2509160051).
An amended complaint was filed on Sept. 22 as well, adding that the illegal sharing of SNAP data threatens state funding and programs (see 2509230060).
The USDA has continually argued it has followed the law in carrying out its actions, and that the states are unlikely to succeed in their claims (see 2509030046).