The lawsuit demands that the court block the USDA from imposing these illegal funding conditions on critical programs such as the school lunch program, Special Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Source: NM Department of Justice
Images: Courtesy
Albuquerque, NM – Attorney General Raúl Torrez joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general this week in suing the Trump Administration over its unconstitutional and unlawful attempt to impose conditions related to immigration, gender identity, and diversity, equity and inclusion, on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, grants, cooperative agreements and more. The lawsuit demands that the court block the USDA from imposing these illegal funding conditions on critical programs such as the school lunch program, Special Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“These programs are essential to feeding New Mexico children, families, senior citizens and rural communities. Almost half a million New Mexicans rely on SNAP funding alone for family meals, and I will not stand by while this administration continues to attempt to take food from the tables of our working families,” said Attorney General Raúl Torrez. “By implementing these completely unrelated conditions to this funding, the administration is illegally and deliberately withholding nutrition from New Mexicans in a time when our country is already struggling with rising costs. We should be expanding access to food assistance – not undermining it.”
The coalition asserts that the USDA has threatened harsh penalties if states do not comply with the agency’s vague and expansive funding conditions, which are completely unrelated to the purpose of USDA funding. The lawsuit explains that these conditions, which became effective at the end of 2025, require that states promise to comply with the Trump Administration’s policies – but fail to identify or limit which policies the states must comply with – leaving states at the mercy of the administration for enforcement of the new conditions.
In their lawsuit, Attorney General Torrez and the coalition allege the Trump Administration has violated the Spending Clause of the United State Constitution by imposing coercive conditions without clear notice, and that the administration also violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because conditions are arbitrary and capricious, not constitutional, 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 Mexico, more than 450,000 people rely on SNAP benefits alone to feed their families.
Joining Attorney General Torrez in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
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