RFK Jr.’s food stamp plan fuels tension with USDA

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign to swiftly bar the use of food stamps to buy soda is fueling tensions between his team and the Agriculture Department, according to four people inside and outside government familiar with the dynamics.

The Health and Human Services secretary wants the Trump administration to approve state petitions banning soda from the program for the first time. But he doesn’t control the massive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is managed by the USDA.

Aides to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins agree with Kennedy that federal aid should not be supporting a product they blame for driving obesity and other chronic diseases, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to describe the private deliberations. But they have questioned the feasibility of Kennedy’s rapid approach and bristled at his encroachment into their territory.

The behind-the-scenes friction represents an early flashpoint in the delicate partnership between Kennedy and Rollins aimed at fulfilling the Trump administration’s vows to improve Americans’ health through its “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

“Rollins and Kennedy, they’ve both talked about this issue,” said one of the people, a USDA staffer. “However, [HHS] is flying solo. It just doesn’t help to find a joint pathway forward.”

Kennedy aides in recent weeks have privately encouraged governors and state lawmakers to submit requests for permission to limit soda purchases in the program that feeds 42 million Americans, despite the USDA’s lingering concerns, two of the people said.

Health officials also pushed to use an event with Kennedy and West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey on Friday as an opportunity to tout the state’s plan to restrict food stamps. Rollins was not expected to attend, though the situation remains fluid.