People On Food Stamps Can Keep Buying Junk With Your Tax Dollars, Obama Judge Rules

A federal judge on Monday struck down multiple state pilot programs that restricted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients from using their benefits to buy unhealthy foods.

Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins incorrectly interpreted federal law when approving limits on what SNAP recipients could purchase with their benefits, Politico reported. The ruling impacts such pilot programs in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia, according to the outlet.

“With her solicitation and approval of the pilot projects in this case, the Secretary purports to waive not just a mere administrative or technical obstacle, but the very definition of ‘food’ as it was laid down by Congress,” the ruling says, Politico reported. “Neither the nor the states can force this square peg into a round hole to avoid the plain language of the statute and the requirements of 2026(k).”

Rollins wrote in a Tuesday X post responding to the ruling that “an activist judge just blocked our commonsense restriction on using SNAP benefits for soda and junk.”

“SNAP is for food — not sugar bombs fueling obesity, diabetes, and skyrocketing healthcare costs for low-income families,” she added. “Taxpayers shouldn’t subsidize junk food and drinks at the expense of American health.”