Kentucky sues Trump administration to protect SNAP recipients’ information
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky joins 20 states suing Trump over SNAP recipients' data demand.
- Lawsuit claims USDA violates privacy laws by seeking personal data.
- Beshear has previously sued Trump administration over health cuts, education dollars.
Kentucky is suing the Trump administration for demanding states share personal information for people receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
The commonwealth joined 21 attorneys general in a fight helmed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court, comes almost a month after Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill Act passed Congress, which cut an estimated $230 billion over 10 years from the food assistance program that feeds 40 million Americans and more than 575,000 Kentuckians.
“No Kentuckian — no American — should have their confidential and personal information or data unlawfully shared,” Gov. Andy Beshear told the Herald-Leader in a statement. “It just isn’t right, and so I’m standing up with other state leaders for the millions of Americans and more than half a million Kentuckians who receive SNAP benefits.”
This isn’t the Trump administration’s first attempt to obtain personal information. Immigration officials have attempted to obtain similar details from the IRS and Medicaid enrollees.
Citing a violation in state and federal privacy laws, Bonta has decried the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s attempt to obtain sensitive information like Social Security numbers and home addresses dating back five years of the lower-income recipients who depend on the service.
“President Trump continues to weaponize private and sensitive personal information — not to root out fraud, but to create a culture of fear where people are unwilling to apply for essential services,” Bonta said in a news release.
The Trump Administration argues cuts like these are protecting the service against “fraud” and “abuse.”
Beshear was the only governor to file on behalf of their state in the lawsuit. He has already joined other actions against Trump for freezing almost $100 million in the state’s school funding and for pulling back COVID-related funds.
In these instances, the lawsuits against the Trump administration have been led by Democratic attorneys general.
Kentucky’s attorney general, Russell Coleman, is a Republican.
Trump nominated Coleman to the role of U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky during the president’s first term in 2017. Coleman endorsed Trump in 2024, and his office has joined with fellow Republican attorneys general to back the president in court.
Coleman’s office did not respond to Herald-Leader requests for comment for this story.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the number of states Kentucky joined in the lawsuit. Kentucky joined the lawsuit alongside 21 other states.
This story was originally published July 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
