MADISON, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul secured a preliminary injunction continuing the temporary block of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from acting on its demand that states turn over personal and sensitive information about millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. This July, AG Kaul and a coalition of states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration alleging that this demand violates multiple federal laws and the U.S. Constitution.
“The federal government shouldn’t be creating unnecessary risks to people’s privacy,” said AG Kaul. “This ruling is good news for our effort to safeguard this data.”
SNAP, known as “FoodShare” in Wisconsin, 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 in connection with using the program. USDA has 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. Any delay in funding could be catastrophic for Wisconsin and its residents who rely on SNAP to purchase food.
View this press release on the DOJ website here.
