Attorney General Tong Sues Trump Administration for Holding Hostage Billions in Critical USDA Funding

Press Releases

03/23/2026

Attorney General Tong Sues Trump Administration for Holding Hostage Billions in Critical USDA Funding

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong joined 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, Attorney General Tong 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 Connecticut’s most vulnerable children, working families, and seniors.

“Trump’s message to Connecticut—fall in line with extreme MAGA ideology, or your families go hungry. Trump wants states to sign hateful pledges that have absolutely nothing to do with food assistance. These conditions are plainly unlawful, and we’re suing to ensure Connecticut gets every penny of USDA funding that our taxpayers paid for and our families need to put food on the table,” said Attorney General Tong.

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 Tong 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 Tong 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.

The coalition is asking the court to prohibit USDA from implementing or enforcing the illegal conditions.

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

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

Facebook: CT Attorney General

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov

Consumer Inquiries:

860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov