TRENTON – Attorney General Jennifer Davenport joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in suing the Trump Administration over its unconstitutional and unlawful attempt to impose vague conditions on billions in funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants, that, if allowed to go forward, would impact everything from food assistance to equipment for volunteer firefighters.
USDA has threatened harsh penalties if states do not comply with the agency’s vague and expansive funding conditions. These conditions require the states to adhere to undefined federal “policies” relating to immigration, diversity, equity and inclusion, and gender identity—each of which is unrelated to the purpose of USDA funding.
The lawsuit asks the court to block USDA from imposing these illegal funding conditions, including on critical USDA programs such as the school lunch program; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); and the Volunteer Fire Capacity Program. These programs provide basic, essential services for millions of New Jersey’s most vulnerable children, working families, senior citizens, and rural communities.
“The Trump Administration cannot make cruel funding restrictions without any basis in law or fact,” said Attorney General Davenport. “I will not let people go hungry because of the Administration’s latest effort to impose unrelated ideological conditions on essential services.”
The USDA adopted new funding conditions that require states to promise to comply with the Trump Administration’s undefined “policies” related to gender identity, diversity, and immigration. USDA does not identify or limit which policies the states must comply with, leaving states at the mercy of the administration.
The lawsuit alleges the Trump Administration has violated the spending clause by imposing vague and coercive conditions. The lawsuit also alleges the Trump Administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because the conditions are arbitrary and capricious, unconstitutional, contrary to law, and beyond USDA’s statutory authority.
USDA programs feed about 30 million children across the nation through the school lunch program, strengthen the American food ecosystem from farm to table, support national security through a robust and safe domestic agriculture community, fund university research to advance domestic food production, and save lives and infrastructure by funding firefighting programs.
In New Jersey, Congress has appropriated billions of dollars in funding through various USDA grant programs:
· The New Jersey Department of Human Services received approximately $1.93 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds from USDA in FY2025.
· The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) received approximately $658 million for Child Nutrition Programs from USDA in FY2025 and approximately $12 million from the Emergency Food Assistance Program. It is currently unclear when NJDA receives funds for FY2026 and when these new conditions would apply.
· The New Jersey Department of Health received approximately $210 million for FY2025 from USDA from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
· The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection receives funding through USDA’s Forest Service to fund wildfire defense programs.
The complaint asks the court to prohibit USDA from implementing or enforcing the illegal conditions.
New Jersey has previously brought five lawsuits challenging unlawful grant conditions imposed by the Trump Administration, each of which has been successful in obtaining early or final rulings in the State’s favor or otherwise favorably resolving.
States joining Attorney General Davenport in today’s filing include attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
