BREAKING NEWS: Six More States Agree to End Taxpayer Subsidies of Junk Food

By The MAHA Report

The location: The National Mall in Washington D.C.

The event: “MAHA Monday” (the second day of the USDA’s Great American Farmers Market 2025, a weeklong celebration of food, family, and farming to showcase American agriculture as part of the Trump Administration’s events leading up to the 250th anniversary of America’s founding next year.)

What Happened: Six more states agree to remove junk food from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

On Monday, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins joined Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA), HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , FDA Administrator Martin Makary, and Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R-WV) in calling for more states to remove junk food from the list of food options low-income families can receive under SNAP, also known as the government’s ‘food stamp’ program.

Speaking at a press conference at the White House, Secretary Kennedy said, “Taxpayer dollars shouldn’t go to junk food that makes our kids sick. We’re fixing that—state by state, step by step—to Make America Healthy Again.”

Rollins signed waivers for six new states: Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Colorado, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. Five states had previously been granted such waivers – Utah, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, and Nebraska.

As HHS put it in a press release, “The SNAP waivers . . . amend the statutory definition of food for purchase and end the subsidization of popular types of junk food beginning in 2026.”

Other states, such as Montana, are likely to receive approval in the near future.

Rollins encouraged all states to become “laboratories” for a healthier America where chronic disease rates will decline as a result of reduced junk food purchases on taxpayer dollars. She acknowledged that junk foods are the most commonly purchased items by people on SNAP.

Multiple states have already applied for and received waivers allowing governors to end junk food purchases on the taxpayer-funded program.

Kennedy assured the country that this is not a ban on junk food, but rather a restriction on the acquisition of junk food on taxpayer dollars. To do otherwise, he said, would be using public funds to subsidize chronic disease.

Commissioner Makary added, “I hope to see all 50 states join this bold commonsense approach. For too long, the root causes of our chronic disease epidemic has been addressed with lip service only. It’s time for powerful changes to our nation’s SNAP program. The goal is simple—reduce mass suffering from diabetes, obesity, and other long term medical conditions. I applaud the leadership of Secretaries Rollins and Kennedy, and President Trump in going bold.”