Arkansas and Indiana have both formally requested permission from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to limit the purchase of soda and candy using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Newsweek has contacted the USDA for clarification via email outside of regular working hours.

Why It Matters

SNAP benefits—commonly known as “food stamps”—are paid to low- and no-income households across the U.S. that would otherwise struggle to afford groceries. In the 2024 fiscal year, the program served 240,100 people in Arkansas and 610,700 in Indiana, according to think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).

What To Know

Arkansas and Indiana are the first states to officially request waivers from the USDA to ban the purchase of so-called “junk” foods using the benefit.

A waiver grants flexibility by modifying specific USDA program rules, enabling states to administer the SNAP program. Various states currently have SNAP waivers in place, and they were widely implemented during the coronavirus pandemic to enhance access to food benefits.

At present, no state has a waiver that restricts SNAP recipients from purchasing certain foods based on their nutritional value.

But this is set to change. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins confirmed the waiver request in a joint press conference on Tuesday, while Indiana’s Mike Braun announced his state’s request alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy has led a growing nationwide movement, dubbed “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) after President Donald Trump‘s long-used slogan “Make America Great Again” (MAGA). While he cannot approve waivers, which is the job of Secretary Rollins, he has called on states to continue the push to remove soda and candy from being bought with benefits.

Numerous states are currently considering legislation to prohibit such purchases, all of which are Republican led.

State-level efforts center on a consistent concern: taxpayers bearing the financial burden of health issues stemming from diet-related conditions such as obesity. In a December letter addressed to Kennedy and Rollins, Huckabee Sanders urged the Trump administration to bar SNAP benefits from being used to make “junk” food purchases.

She pointed to the role of unhealthy food and beverage purchases in “fueling obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and a wide range of chronic health conditions across America.”

What People Are Saying

Governor Huckabee Sanders said in an April 15 press release: “Banning soft drinks and candy from food stamps will remove some of the least-healthy, most-processed foods from the program and encourage low-income Arkansans to eat better. Arkansas leads the nation in commonsense, conservative reforms and I was proud to work with Secretary Rollins to make this move and take a strong first step toward broader changes to our food stamp program.”

Secretary Rollins said: “Today’s waiver announcement is a welcome one, and I look forward to moving through the approval process swiftly. I encourage more states across the nation to follow the bold lead of states like Arkansas as we Make America Healthy Again.”

Kennedy told Fox News host Laura Ingraham in February: “The one place that I would say that we need to really change policy is the SNAP program and food stamps and in school lunches. There, the federal government in many cases is paying for it. And we shouldn’t be subsidizing people to eat poison.”

Valerie Imbruce, director of the Center for Environment and Society at Washington College, previously told Newsweek: “Controlling how the poor eat is a paternalistic response to a problem that is not based in SNAP recipients’ inability to make good decisions about healthy foods.”

What’s Next

Exactly when the waivers will be approved is unclear at this time. Rollins said she expects the USDA’s approval of the state’s request to move quickly.