Trump administration restricts junk food purchases through SNAP
Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced an expansion of the Trump administration’s efforts to limit the purchase of junk food using SNAP benefits. It’s part of what officials are calling a broader effort to “make America healthy again.”
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Kansas, Nevada, Ohio and Wyoming, along with 18 other states, place limits on what food assistance recipients can buy with taxpayer money.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins signed a new waiver on March 4 that allows spending limits on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Exemptions are tailored to each state. Most areas prohibit the purchase of soda and candy.
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“As I’ve said before, Wyoming taxpayers expect their money to be used for food assistance so families can put healthy food on the table,” Wyoming Republican Governor Mark Gordon said in a statement. “This waiver is meant to support healthier communities in Wyoming and is a reasonable, common-sense measure that aligns the program with its intended purpose.”
Professor Tyson Lord Gray, who teaches at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, told USA TODAY that for 60 years, under presidents of both parties, the Department of Agriculture has rejected requests by the state to restrict SNAP foods, saying it cannot waive the definition of “food” for purchase with SNAP benefits established by Congress. SNAP recipients could buy things other than alcohol, tobacco, hot and prepared food, and personal care products.
President Donald Trump’s administration began granting exemptions in 2025, despite no changes to the law. USDA says these exemptions are granted under pilot project authority to test the health and nutritional effects of excluding some foods.
“The Trump Administration is united in making our nation healthier. America’s governors have proudly answered the call to innovate by improving nutrition programs and ensuring better options while respecting the generosity of American taxpayers. Each waiver that a state has filed and signed brings us one step closer to fulfilling President Trump’s promise to make America healthy again,” Rollins said when signing the first waiver in June 2025.
Waivers are available in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. Many focus on candy and sugary drinks, and some specifically talk about energy drinks and juices. Each has a different definition of what items are prohibited.
Gray said he’s surprised a lawsuit hasn’t been filed yet. In 2007, the USDA issued a memo stating that the pilot project authority under which the Trump administration is acting cannot be used to restrict food choices.
Gray said many state-based businesses face a “compliance mess” and are best served by filing a lawsuit because various standards require changes to things like point-of-sale software and employee training.
“Each state has its own definition of what is candy and what is a sugar-sweetened beverage, so companies based across the country literally have to update each state’s (point of sale) system to comply with that state’s specific restrictions,” he said.
Congress did not change the legal definition of what recipients could buy, but encouraged states to apply for exemptions in the Republican tax and spending bill signed into law last summer. The law created a $50 billion local health transformation program that would score states on whether to submit SNAP limit waivers.
