Overview
- Last week U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson vacated USDA approvals for pilot waivers in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia on the ground that the agency lacked the legal authority to bar certain foods from SNAP.
- The court said the USDA tried to redefine the statutory term “food” and also failed to follow its own notice rules for pilot projects, meaning the approvals violated federal law.
- The USDA publicly defended the health goals of the Make America Healthy Again initiative but has not announced a formal appeal and faces legal limits if it wants to change what counts as SNAP-eligible food without Congress.
- State and industry reactions diverged as Arkansas announced it will press ahead with its own candy-and-soda ban this week and has hired a vendor and launched an app to help stores and beneficiaries, while trade groups warn of large startup and annual costs and checkout burdens for retailers.
- SNAP serves about 42 million people, so the ruling could reshape how states test nutrition policies, create operational strain at grocery checkout, and leave open the prospect that Congress would have to act to permit lasting purchase restrictions.