Unlawful Grant Terms Threaten Over $200 Million in Federal Funding for Vermont
Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today 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, the coalition alleges the Trump Administration has violated the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). This is the 46th lawsuit filed by Attorney General Clark against the Trump Administration.
Attorney General Clark and the coalition assert in their lawsuit 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 tens of thousands of Vermont’s most vulnerable children, working families, seniors, and people with disabilities.
“Imposing these funding conditions on programs that feed the most vulnerable Americans is illegal and cruel,” said Attorney General Clark. “It also, unfortunately, keeps with a theme of this Administration of violating the Constitution and federal law – regardless of the cost to Americans – to further the President’s extreme social agenda.”
Effective December 31, 2025, USDA adopted new funding conditions which 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 Clark 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.
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 Vermont, USDA child nutrition programs, for example, serve tens of thousands of children each day. These programs also stimulate the local food economy, with over $1.25 million of the funds spent on local Vermont products in the 2024-2025 school year. The unlawful grant terms threaten Vermont’s ability to provide food sufficient to feed the children who rely on it, and schools and daycare centers would face budget shortfalls for meals already purchased but not yet reimbursed. Enforcement of the unlawful funding conditions would threaten approximately $57.4 million in food and funding for FY2026 under the child nutrition programs alone. Federal funds for other programs could also be at risk, including nearly $165 million in funding for Vermont’s SNAP and WIC programs.
Attorney General Clark and the coalition have asked the court to prohibit USDA from implementing or enforcing the illegal conditions.
Joining Attorney General Clark 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, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
A copy of the complaint is available on our website.
This lawsuit is the 46th case Attorney General Clark has brought against the Trump Administration since President Trump took office in January 2025. For more information on actions taken by the Attorney General on behalf of Vermonters, visit our website.
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