The Trump administration has temporarily halted its demand for states to provide personal information on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients following a federal lawsuit.

Newsweek contacted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for comment via email outside regular working hours.

Why It Matters

More than 40 million Americans rely on the program, which provides monthly benefits to for low- and no-income households to help pay for groceries.

The Trump administration’s earlier push sought to collect the names, Social Security numbers, addresses and other personal data of SNAP beneficiaries, sparking concerns about privacy and the potential misuse of sensitive data.

What To Know

In a sworn court declaration filed on May 30, the USDA confirmed that it had not collected any recipient data and would not proceed with the plan until privacy and legal safeguards were addressed.

On May 6, the USDA sent a letter to state SNAP administrators instructing them to share comprehensive recipient records, which included Social Security numbers, home addresses and other personally identifiable information. States were warned that failure to comply could “trigger noncompliance procedures.”

The letter followed a March 20 executive order from President Donald Trump, titled “Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos,” which mandated government agencies to share “all unclassified agency records, data, software systems, and information technology systems” with the federal government.

The USDA request was met with a motion for a temporary restraining order filed on May 27 by a group of nonprofits and SNAP beneficiaries. The group argued that the demand violated the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Privacy Act and other statutes.

Shiela Corley, the chief of staff to the deputy undersecretary for the Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, said in Friday’s declaration, “USDA has instructed EBT [electronic benefit transfer] Processors to refrain from sending any data until USDA completed procedural steps to ensure that data received would be appropriately safeguarded and to satisfy all necessary legal requirements.”

She also confirmed that EBT processors had not sent any data to the USDA since the request was made.

The USDA also committed to publishing a new Systems of Record Notice in compliance with the Privacy Act before collecting any data.

Following the USDA’s declaration, the plaintiffs withdrew their motion for a temporary restraining order.

What People Are Saying

John Davisson, the director of litigation and senior counsel at EPIC, said in a news release: “This is a victory for tens of millions of SNAP recipients and anyone who cares about protecting our personal data against government abuse. Although this fight is just beginning, we’re grateful that the USDA acknowledged its legal obligation to safeguard privacy and remain accountable to the public.”

Madeline Wiseman, an attorney with the National Student Legal Defense Network, said: “This lawsuit is ongoing, and we intend to keep a close eye on what the USDA does next.”

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in May 6 news release: “President Trump is rightfully requiring the federal government to have access to all programs it funds and SNAP is no exception. For years, this program has been on autopilot, with no USDA insight into real-time data. The Department is focused on appropriate and lawful participation in SNAP, and today’s request is one of many steps to ensure SNAP is preserved for only those eligible.”

What Happens Next

The lawsuit is set to move forward as both sides prepare to litigate whether federal agencies can require states to hand over sensitive data from SNAP recipients without first meeting federal privacy protections and public transparency requirements.