US Judge Blocks Trump Administration SNAP Restrictions on Soda, Candy

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: US News & World Report/Reuters

June 22, 2026, at 7:07 p.m.


WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Washington, ⁠D.C., ⁠on Monday blocked the Trump administration ⁠from preventing food stamp recipients in five states from using their benefits to ​buy sugary foods and drinks.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture lacked the authority under ‌federal law to approve state requests to ‌bar recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, from using benefits to buy sugary foods and ⁠drinks. She sided ⁠with five plaintiffs who argued the restrictions would undermine their access to food.

The ​USDA has approved "food restriction" waivers in 23 states allowing them to restrict SNAP participants from using their benefits to buy products such as soda and candy. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have ​endorsed the waivers as part of the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) movement.

SNAP, commonly known as the food stamp program, provides ⁠monthly benefits ⁠to 42 million low-income Americans, ⁠and is administered ​by the USDA in partnership with state governments. "The federal defendants and the states may have a genuine ​desire to improve the health of ⁠SNAP households by encouraging healthy choices at the store, and they can take lawful steps to meet those goals," Jackson said. "But what they cannot do is violate the law and their own regulations along the way."

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2026-06-22/us-judge-blocks-trump-administration-snap-restrictions-on-soda-candy

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Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/klpyokxjbpg/USA%20AGRICULTURE%20FOOD%20STAMPS%20LAWSUIT%20ruling.pdf

[Martin68]

1. I don't think nutrition-free excess sugar is good for the health. I don't think SNAP benefits should include

harmful products. If we are going to subsidize food for the who can't afford it, we should also consider whether or not the products are actually nutritious and healthy.

[oberle]

3. Who do you think has the right to

tell people what they can eat? The government?

[Martin68]

5. Yes.The government has the responsibility of managing the program and decisions should be based on science.

BTW, the government does not "tell people what they can eat." The government determines how to best distribute funds to provide nutritional subsidies to lower income people. If they want to eat something that is harmful to their health, that is their right, but they should pay for it themselves - not with taxpayer money.

[Blues Heron]

4. Calories are calories. Your body literally runs on glucose. its not exactly fentanyl

[Martin68]

6. In excess, over time, it can cause as much damage as fentanyl. highly refined sugar and ultra-processed carbohydrates

cause an unhealthy spike in blood sugar levels. If that is a major part of the daily diet, it does indeed cause damage over time.

[Blues Heron]

7. no its not as as bad as fentanyl. Let them have a treat. Everybody gets gov susidies of some form, so lets ban all candy

Or just for the people barely scraping by?

[Martin68]

9. I'd rather my tax dollars were spent on healthy food.

[Blues Heron]

10. You are using tax paid benefits the minute you travel on a government road. Should they control what you buy?

Or is that only for them?

[Martin68]

11. I'm getting tired of your wild attempts at logic. Comparing sugar to fentanyl and eating to driving just don't help the

conversation.

[Blues Heron]

12. Cool story bro

[Llewlladdwr]

13. Are you under the impression you can engage in unrestricted commerce while on a public thoroughfare?

'Cause...you know...you can't.

[GenThePerservering]

8. Ex-hungry person once on food stamp agrees with this

if I wanted candy and pop, I spent my own money. I was embarrassed to buy that shit with food stamps.

[Torchlight]

15. When healthy food becomes as inexpensive as junk food

the point would have weight.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

2. So much court winnings by the trumpedo.

Of course this is

Let's see, so far, just today, trumpedo has lost 3 cases.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

14. Good.

[EnergizedLib]

16. I agree with the decision

We have a felon in the White House helping himself to how much money for grifting, for vanity projects, for a nonsensical war that resulted the deaths of how many servicemen and women and Iranian schoolgirls?

And I’m supposed to be upset by a SNAP recipient buying sweets with SNAP money?