States cannot restrict Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients from using their benefits to buy certain foods, such as soda and candy, a federal judge ruled.
The Monday, June 22, ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson strikes down federal waivers in Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia that restricted which foods SNAP participants could buy with their funds.
President Donald Trump’s administration has granted such waivers in more than 20 states as part of his administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” push, which Gov. Kim Reynolds has embraced in Iowa.
Iowa’s waiver took effect Jan. 1 and restricted use of SNAP dollars to buy any foods defined as taxable by the Iowa Department of Revenue. It includes sugary items like soda and candy, as well as many prepared foods.
With Iowa’s waiver struck down, SNAP participants can again use their benefits to buy any foods that comply with the federal definition of “food,” which exempts alcohol, tobacco and hot foods ready for consumption.
What the Judge Said
Jackson wrote in her ruling that U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins relied on the wrong section of federal law to justify granting the waivers and “sidestepped” the section, 2026(k), that sets out the requirements such waivers must meet.
“With her solicitation and approval of the pilot projects in this case, the Secretary purports to waive not just a mere administrative or technical obstacle, but the very definition of ‘food’ as it was laid down by Congress,” Jackson wrote. “Neither the USDA nor the states can force this square peg into a round hole to avoid the plain language of the statute and the requirements of 2026(k).”
States Push Back
Reynolds said in a statement that, for decades, SNAP “has fallen short of its original intent to provide low-income families with affordable access to nutritious food.”
“I’m proud that Iowa is among the states leading the type of SNAP reforms necessary to promote better nutrition, health and well-being. The changes proposed aren’t a mandate — SNAP members can choose what they want, but the state won’t pay for unhealthy foods,” Reynolds said. “The court’s decision is short-sighted and does nothing to improve the health of our country. In the meantime, Iowa will continue to work on our plan to do exactly that.”
In May, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Reynolds at the Iowa Capitol as she signed a law requiring Iowa to continuously request a federal waiver to maintain the restrictions that block SNAP recipients from buying certain foods.
Without a waiver, the new state law says Iowa will not participate in the federal Summer EBT program, which provides low-income children with pre-loaded EBT cards to buy food during the summer.
Impact on SNAP Recipients
The lawsuit’s plaintiffs, including Iowan Marc Craig, argued Iowa’s SNAP restrictions were confusing and made it difficult to know what SNAP recipients could or couldn’t buy with their benefits.
Craig said the limits made it more difficult for him to control his diabetes and kidney failure through diet, rather than medications.
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice and the law firm Shinder Cantor Lerner brought the lawsuit challenging the SNAP restrictions.
“The court’s ruling is a major step in restoring essential food assistance to the millions of families that rely on SNAP nationwide,” Katharine Deabler-Meadows, senior attorney at the NCLJ, said in a statement. “This decision makes clear that the USDA cannot bypass the legal guardrails that establish how SNAP must operate across the country. It affirms that families deserve a program that works without confusion.”
Jackson wrote in her ruling that her decision “should not be taken as a comment on whether the pilot projects are a good idea or not,” calling that a question “that is not before the court.”
“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 wrote. “But what they cannot do is violate the law and their own regulations along the way.”
Stephen Gruber-Miller is the Capitol bureau chief for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on X at @sgrubermiller.
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