Attorney General Bonta Secures Preliminary Injunction Blocking Trump Administration’s Attempt to Impose Discriminatory Conditions on Billions in USDA Funding

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today secured a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump Administration’s attempt to impose new discriminatory conditions on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants. The conditions would have required federal funding recipients to comply with vague, hateful, and unrelated policies on immigration, gender ideology, transgender athletes, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, endangering billions of dollars in USDA funding. 

“Today the court granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to weaponize essential funding for families and children,” said Attorney General Bonta. “As the Trump Administration tries to use essential programs and billions in funding as leverage to advance their hateful, discriminatory agenda, California continues to fight to uphold the law and ensure that our communities can continue to access the funding they need to thrive.”  

Background:

On March 23, 2026, Attorney General Bonta co-led a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s attempt to impose new discriminatory conditions on USDA grants. The grants and programs at issue provide critical lifelines to vulnerable communities, families, and children through school lunches, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding, and other essential programs. In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argued that the new conditions violate both the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by exceeding USDA’s statutory authority, attaching vague conditions to funding, failing to provide a reasoned explanation or follow procedural requirements, and threatening billions of dollars in critical funding. 

California and other states rely on billions in annual federal funding to feed students, infants, mothers, and families through programs like SNAP and other child nutrition programs, which are set by statutory formula and cannot be made subject to terms and conditions like those USDA attempted to impose here. That includes about 30 million children — more than one in three children nationwide — who participate in school lunch programs. Last fiscal year, in California alone, the state Department of Education received over $2 billion in child nutrition funding and the state Department of Social Services received five grants, ranging from just under $1 billion to slightly over $1.3 billion each, to support SNAP. Two other programs provided $800 million and $850 million that both went to the California Department of Public Health for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) services.