US judge blocks Trump's demands for state data on food stamp recipients

By Daniel Wiessner

Sept 19 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's administration from stripping 19 mostly Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., of food stamp benefits funding unless the states hand over data on millions of people who receive them.

U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney in San Francisco said in a ruling late Thursday that the states were likely correct that a federal law requiring them to safeguard information obtained from food stamp recipients bars them from disclosing it to the Trump administration.

The administration is seeking to amass a database of food stamp applicants to check their immigration status and identify fraud, and has warned states that they could lose billions of dollars in funding if they do not comply.

But Chesney said federal law allows states to disclose the data only in narrow circumstances and to officials "directly connected with the administration or enforcement" of the program.

"While eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse in a government assistance program is in public interest, there is nothing in the record to suggest that something has happened to warrant altering the status quo at this time," wrote Chesney, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.

Chesney blocked the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food stamps program, from denying funding to the states pending further litigation in the case.

The USDA and the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, which is leading the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

About 42 million people receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which is largely funded by the federal government and administered by states. Immigrants who are in the United States illegally are not eligible for SNAP.

The states in their lawsuit filed in July say that federal privacy laws and rules governing state food stamp programs bar them from disclosing applicants' personal information. New York, Michigan, Illinois and New Jersey are among the states that joined California in the case.

The USDA had said in June that it would gather information from states to build the database with the goal of reducing waste and strengthening SNAP, and in keeping with Trump's directives to promote data-sharing across the federal government.

The data sought by the department includes the Social Security numbers, immigration status and other information of people who have received, are receiving or have applied to receive SNAP benefits, according to agency documents.

The case is California v. USDA, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 3:25-cv-6310.

For the states: Maria Buxton, Sebastian Brady and Paul Stein of the California Attorney General's office; Mark Ladov of the New York Attorney General's office; and others

For the USDA: Benjamin Kurland and Bradley Humphreys of the U.S. Department of Justice

Read more:

US states sue over Trump demands for data on food stamp recipients

Trump effort to build food aid recipient database is unlawful privacy violation, lawmakers say