The Daily Fuckup

A coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture on July 28, 2025, over a demand that states turn over five years of SNAP applicant and recipient data. The complaint, filed in federal court in California, says USDA and its inspector general sought highly sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers, home addresses, bank account numbers, citizenship or immigration status, and grocery purchase information. ([ag.ny.gov](https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/state-of-california-et-al-v-united-states-department-of-agriculture-complaint-2025.pdf))

The states say the request goes far beyond ordinary program oversight. In the complaint, they argue that federal law sharply limits how SNAP data can be collected, used, and disclosed, and they ask the court to block USDA from forcing production and from starting noncompliance procedures against states that refuse. The filing also says USDA had demanded the information by July 30, 2025, after earlier trying to get participant data through states’ EBT vendors. ([ag.ny.gov](https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/state-of-california-et-al-v-united-states-department-of-agriculture-complaint-2025.pdf))

USDA has said it needs stronger access to state records to police eligibility and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in a program that helps people buy groceries. But the lawsuit says the agency has not shown that it can lawfully collect this volume of personal data, much less share it with other federal agencies. The complaint seeks declarations that the demand violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Privacy Act, the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act, the E-Government Act, and the Paperwork Reduction Act. ([ag.ny.gov](https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/state-of-california-et-al-v-united-states-department-of-agriculture-complaint-2025.pdf))

The case sets up another fight over how much leverage Washington can use to extract state-held benefit records. For the plaintiffs, the issue is not just administrative burden. They say the request threatens confidentiality, could discourage people from enrolling in food assistance, and could open the door to uses of the data beyond SNAP administration. A court has not ruled on the merits of the case. ([ag.ny.gov](https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/state-of-california-et-al-v-united-states-department-of-agriculture-complaint-2025.pdf))