Attorney General Rayfield Files Lawsuit Against Trump Administration for Holding Hostage Billions in Critical USDA Funding

Attorney General Rayfield and a coalition of 20 other attorneys general sued the Trump administration today over its unconstitutional and unlawful attempt to impose conditions on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, grants, cooperative agreements and mutual interest agreements.
"No family in Oregon should have to worry about whether their child will have enough to eat," said Attorney General Rayfield. "These conditions are illegal and have nothing to do with supporting our farmers or feeding the 86,000 Oregon kids who rely on WIC."

In their lawsuit, Attorney General Rayfield 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 Oregon's most vulnerable children, working families, senior citizens and rural communities.

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, Attorney General Rayfield 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, Attorney General Rayfield 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 Oregon, this amounts to billions of dollars that go to families, universities, and state agencies to fund SNAP, WIC, school lunches, forestry initiatives, wildfire readiness, crop resiliency, and many other programs, affecting nearly everyone in the state in one way or another.
Attorney General Rayfield and the attorneys general have asked the court to prohibit USDA from implementing or enforcing the illegal conditions.

Joining Attorney General Rayfield in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.