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Attorney General Nessel Secures Order Halting Trump Administration’s Push to Use SNAP Information for Mass Surveillance Agenda
October 16, 2025
LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has secured a preliminary injunction (PDF) temporarily blocking the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s demand that states turn over personal and sensitive information about millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. This July, Attorney General Nessel joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration alleging that this demand violates multiple federal laws and the U.S. Constitution.
“The Trump Administration tried to corner Michiganders into an impossible choice: surrender your privacy or go hungry,” Nessel said. “I am grateful the Court halted this illegal action and remain committed to protecting the rights of Michigan families.”
SNAP is a federally funded, state-administered program that provides billions of dollars in food assistance to tens of millions of low-income families across the country. SNAP applicants provide their private information on the understanding, backed by long-standing state and federal laws, that their information will not be used for unrelated purposes. In an attempt to bully states into compliance, USDA has repeatedly threatened to withhold administrative funding for the program if states fail to comply with its unprecedented demand for data — effectively forcing states to choose between protecting their residents’ privacy and providing critical nutrition assistance to those in need. Michigan’s program provides approximately $254 million in SNAP benefits per month on average to vulnerable families, with an average of approximately 1,418,000 recipients. Any delay in that funding could be catastrophic for the state and its residents who rely on SNAP to put food on the table.
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