Attorney General Bonta Asks Court to Enforce Order Blocking Trump Administration’s Demands for Personal Data of SNAP Recipients

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to enforce its preliminary injunction blocking the Trump Administration's demand that states turn over personal and sensitive information about millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. Earlier this year, Attorney General Bonta filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration alleging that this demand violates federal law. The District Court agreed that the demand was likely unlawful because that the Administration had stated its intent to disclose and use the demanded data for purposes unrelated to the administration of SNAP, and granted a preliminary injunction. Now, the Trump Administration has again threatened to cut off administrative funding to states that do not turn over this data. In the motion to enforce, Attorney General Bonta and a multistate coalition argue that this renewed demand violates the District Court's existing order and is contrary to law for the same reasons as the original demand.

"The Trump Administration's latest demand for SNAP data is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to get around an existing court order," said Attorney General Bonta. "We will not be bullied into turning over the private, sensitive data of SNAP recipients in California. If the Trump Administration wants to stop losing in court, it should stop breaking the law. It's that simple. I urge the court to enforce its order, and block further threats to withhold federal funding if states don't comply with the Trump Administration's illegal demands."

SNAP is a federally funded, state-administered program that provides billions of dollars in food assistance to tens of millions of low-income families across the country. SNAP applicants provide their private information on the understanding, backed by federal law, that their information will not be used for unrelated purposes. In an attempt to bully states into compliance, the Trump Administration has repeatedly threatened to withhold administrative funding for the program if states fail to comply with its unprecedented demand for data - effectively forcing states to choose between protecting their residents' privacy and providing critical nutrition assistance to those in need. California receives over $1 billion a year to administer the program, and any delay in that funding could be catastrophic for the state and its residents who rely on SNAP to put food on the table.

The only difference between the Trump Administration's original demand, issued in July, and its renewed demand, issued in November, is that this renewed demand attached a proposed data and security protocol. This protocol is "proposed" in name only - the Trump Administration has made clear that it has no intention of negotiating the terms of that protocol with states, stating in its demand letter there "can be no good faith objections" to the protocol, despite the fact that protocol would permit the data sharing and use that the Court has already found to be unlawful. When the multistate coalition raised this and other concerns with the protocol, USDA rejected those concerns out-of-hand and swiftly issued letters threatening to withhold funding. In today's filing, Attorney General Bonta and a coalition urge the District Court to enforce its preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration's renewed demand that states' turn over SNAP data or lose federal funding necessary to administer the SNAP program.

Attorney General Bonta has vigorously defended SNAP from attacks by the Trump Administration. During the recent government shutdown, Attorney General Bonta sued USDA to force them to fund November SNAP benefits. Not one, but two federal district courts determined that the Trump Administration acted unlawfully. And when the Administration responded by asking the U.S. Supreme Court to pause one court's order requiring USDA to pay full benefits, Attorney General Bonta vigorously challenged that request, which was ultimately withdrawn after the government reopened. The SNAP program is now fully funded through September 2026.

Last month, Attorney General Bonta again sued the Trump Administration to challenge USDA's guidance that erroneously excluded certain lawfully residing non-citizens from SNAP eligibility. In response to that lawsuit, USDA backed down and issued correcting guidance. A district court also issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump Administration from penalizing California for any errors resulting from USDA's erroneous guidance unlawfully restricting eligibility for SNAP.