Attorney General Raoul Files Lawsuit Against Trump Administration For Holding Hostage Billions In Critical USDA Funding

CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, led a coalition of 21 attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over its unconstitutional and unlawful attempt to impose conditions on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, grants, cooperative agreements and mutual interest agreements.

In their lawsuit, Raoul and the coalition assert that USDA has threatened harsh penalties if states do not comply with the agency’s vague and expansive funding conditions relating to immigration, diversity, equity and inclusion, and gender identity, which are unrelated to the purpose of USDA funding. The lawsuit asks the court to block USDA from imposing these illegal funding conditions, including on critical USDA programs such as the school lunch program; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); and the Volunteer Fire Capacity Program. The programs provide basic, essential services for millions of Illinois’ most vulnerable children, working families, senior citizens and rural communities.

“The Trump administration is again demonstrating shocking contempt for the well-being of Americans, including millions of Illinoisians. The USDA’s grant conditions threaten critical nutrition support, rural firefighting capacity and the safety of the national food chain in some of the most vulnerable Illinois communities,” Raoul said. “The USDA is trying to force states like Illinois, which have no choice but to accept vital funding for these programs, to comply with illegal conditions. I am proud to join my coalition partners in fighting back against this coercion and refusing to adopt this administration’s unlawful policies that attack our residents.”

Effective Dec. 31, 2025, USDA adopted new funding conditions. The conditions require states to promise to comply with the Trump administration’s policies related to gender identity, diversity, immigration and fair athletic opportunities for girls and women. However, Raoul and the attorneys general explain in their lawsuit that USDA does not fully 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, Raoul and the coalition allege the Trump administration has violated the Spending Clause by imposing coercive conditions without clear notice of its funding conditions. The lawsuit also alleges the Trump administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because conditions are the 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 Illinois, one in 20 residents receive TEFAP food, which delivers nutritious, locally sourced, minimally modified foods across the state, including in rural areas where farmers and agricultural workers supply a large volume of Illinois’ agricultural products, yet too often have no access to nutritious food to feed their families.

Raoul and the attorneys general have asked the court to prohibit USDA from implementing or enforcing the illegal conditions.

Joining Attorneys General Raoul, Bonta, Campbell and Kaul in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

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