MAHA: More States Set to Drop Junk Food From Food Stamp Program
Charlie Kirk Staff
05/22/2025

The Department of Agriculture under the Trump administration is advancing a major policy shift aimed at removing junk food and sugary drinks from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), with Secretary Brooke Rollins calling the move historic.
Speaking at a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) event on Thursday, Rollins said the administration has already approved waivers for Nebraska, Indiana, and Iowa, with several more in the pipeline. “We are on track to sign multiples of SNAP waivers to get junk food and sugary drinks out of our food stamp system,” she said. “That has never happened before under Republican or Democrat administrations.”
The Nebraska waiver, signed earlier this week with Republican Governor Jim Pillen, makes the state the first in the nation to block SNAP recipients from using benefits to buy soda, candy, and other high-sugar foods. The waiver will start as a two-year pilot program, according to local reports.
Rollins said that additional states, including Texas and West Virginia, have requested similar exemptions. “We have never made that happen before. So I am so proud and so grateful,” she said of the initiative.
In a letter to Rollins, Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote, “SNAP was created to increase access to nutritious food; however, many SNAP purchases are for food with little to no nutritious value.” He added, “Under the Trump administration, for the first time since the program was authorized, states can take steps to eliminate the opportunity to buy junk food with SNAP benefits and assure that taxpayer dollars are used only to purchase healthy, nutritious food.”
At Thursday’s event, the Trump administration released a 69-page report from the MAHA Commission outlining strategies for tackling childhood chronic disease. The report notes that about 42 million low-income Americans receive SNAP benefits each month and that one in five children under 17 is enrolled in the program.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, who has also requested a waiver, recently signed a bill banning certain synthetic dyes and additives in food sold in the state. House Bill 2354 made West Virginia the first state to implement such restrictions, which Morrisey said align with the broader MAHA agenda.