Posted on 06/22/2026 5:38:55 PM PDT by Red Badger
A federal judge on Monday shut down the Trump Administration’s pilot program restricting the purchase of soda and junk food with SNAP benefits.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins applied the wrong law in approving a pilot program for states that wanted to restrict junk food purchases.
23 states applied for the pilot program in an effort to limit the purchase of soda, candy and other junk food.
Plaintiffs in five states filed the lawsuit against Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.
Judge Berman Jackson’s ruling applies to five states: West Virginia, Tennessee, Colorado, Iowa and Nebraska.
Politico reported:
A federal judge on Monday scrapped a set of state pilot programs intended to restrict the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program money to purchase unhealthy foods.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, wrote in her decision that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who oversees the SNAP program, misapplied federal law in approving requests from states to allow them to impose limits on what participants can buy with funds from the nation’s largest food aid program. Her ruling applies to Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia.
“With her solicitation and approval of the pilot projects in this case, the Secretary purports to waive not just a mere administrative or technical obstacle, but the very definition of ‘food’ as it was laid down by Congress,” Berman wrote. “Neither the USDA nor the states can force this square peg into a round hole to avoid the plain language of the statute and the requirements of 2026(k),” referencing the part of the statute that addresses projects to help improve SNAP households’ health status.
Jackson’s ruling could jeopardize one of the biggest policy achievements of the Make America Healthy Again agenda. Rollins and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have urged states to submit food restriction plans, arguing that they will improve health outcomes and that federal dollars shouldn’t be funding junk food.
Kennedy also incentivized the states to apply by tying some federal rural health care funding to whether states had applied for a waiver to limit foods like soda in SNAP.
Yep, they had to drop prices on chips after this ban.
All true, but a reminder that our criminal Congress gave them the money through the states in the first place. Reason 1,748 why the GOPe will lose this fall.
If only there was an activist conservative judge or two out there…
And how many of those states are in her district, hmm?
On to the appellate court.
NONE. She’s United States District Court for the District of Columbia..............
.
Yes they are. I meant if the system switched to commodity packages instead of straight up grocery shopping.
3---2----1---
More proof that:
The only good communist is a dead communist...
It is our duty as citizens to help, with prejudice, everyone be as good as possible...
If we are unwilling to do our duty, maybe we should not complain...
This will be overturned. The problem is that the Trump administration is running out of time. Democrats are going to try to cheat like heck to win in November. I don’t see the RNC doing anything to stop it.
BTW, SCOTUS releases opinions at 10 this morning. I’ll post the usual thread around 9:45.
Compare and Contrast exercise for ABJ:
Using the same standard, rule on Michelle Obama’s School Lunch program.
potato chips and soda pop are not food
Neither are sizzurp nor purple drank.
And if that happens, they’ll next argue that alcohol should be included.
Bingo!
Barack Obama is a king. His minions are imposing his agenda when it is opposed.
We might as well let them by beer with SNAP. It is basically liquid bread
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