Judge Dismisses Michigan Cage-Free Egg Law Challenge

A federal judge dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit challenging Michigan’s cage-free egg law, ruling that the federal government had not shown it was harmed by the law and therefore lacked standing to sue. The administration argued that federal egg-safety law preempts Michigan’s restrictions and that the rules contributed to high egg prices; the judge did not decide whether the state law conflicts with federal law, noting that the federal statute does not regulate how states may legislate. Michigan’s law, passed in 2019 and effective at the start of 2025, bars the sale of eggs from hens kept in cages. State officials, egg producers and animal-welfare groups countered that the price spike was driven by avian flu, which killed millions of egg-laying birds, rather than cage-free requirements.