Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, with 21 attorneys general and the state of Kentucky, filed a motion to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from attempting to force states to turn over personal and sensitive information about millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients while litigation challenging the legality of the demand continues. 

SNAP is a federally funded, state-administered program that provides billions of dollars in food assistance to tens of millions of low-income families across the country. SNAP applicants provide their private information to state agencies with the understanding, backed by long-standing state and federal laws, that their information will not be used for unrelated purposes. 

“SNAP provides access to food for millions of Illinois families while also supporting thousands of local grocers, farmers’ markets and other merchants who are critical to states’ economies,” Raoul said. “Individuals who provide private personal information to the state to receive critical SNAP benefits do not deserve to be blindsided by having their sensitive data turned over based on the Trump administration’s unlawful and arbitrary demand. I will continue to stand with my fellow attorneys general to protect the privacy of vulnerable Illinoisans who rely on SNAP benefits.” 

Last month, Attorney General Raoul joined a multistate coalition in suing USDA, arguing that its demand that states turn over SNAP data violates multiple federal privacy laws and the U.S. Constitution. Then last week, Trump’s USDA threatened to cut off crucial administrative funding that states depend on to run SNAP if the states do not turn over the data. 

For 60 years, Illinois and other states have administered SNAP, which serves as an essential safety net for millions of low-income Americans, including nearly 2 million Illinoisans, by providing benefits that can be used to purchase groceries for recipients and their families. Of those Illinois households receiving benefits, 33% contain children, 30% contain adults over 60 years of age, and 27% contain a person with a disability. 

In those 60 years, the federal government and state agencies have worked together to build a robust process for ensuring that only eligible individuals receive benefits. Those systems do not, and have never, required states to turn over sensitive, personally identifying information about millions of Americans without any meaningful restrictions on how that information is used or shared with other agencies.  

Yet in July 2025, the USDA made an unprecedented demand that states turn over massive amounts of personal information on all SNAP applicants and recipients, including their Social Security numbers, home addresses, and even their shopping histories dating back five years. Just one year’s worth of SNAP recipient data contains sensitive, personally identifying information on tens of millions of individuals. The federal government’s stated justifications for its unprecedented data demands, to “prevent fraud and abuse,” are directly contradicted by its own statements describing SNAP as having “one of the most rigorous quality control systems in the federal government.” 

Illinois has already observed a drop in enrollment in the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program this year compared to last. The Summer EBT program, which is available to all SNAP-eligible children, provides families with a one-time benefit to buy groceries for children when school is not in session. Officials in Illinois believe that this drop in enrollment reflects Illinoisans’ fears that the federal government is using benefits data for improper purposes. 

After Raoul and a multistate coalition filed a lawsuit challenging the USDA’s demand, the department threatened to withhold federal administrative SNAP funding from the states — which totals nearly $5 million for Illinois. In the motion for a stay of enforcement, Raoul and the coalition urge the court to intervene to prevent the USDA from pressing its unlawful demand for data — and using critical administrative funding as leverage — before the court has a chance to address the merits of plaintiffs’ claims.   

Joining Raoul in filing the motion are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin, and the state of Kentucky.