Gov. Josh Shapiro announced on June 6 that he was suing the USDA for the $13 million in cancelled federal funding for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Assistance Program.
Photo courtesy of the Governor's Office of Communications.
Updated: June 4, 2025 | 4:17 pm
Gov. Shapiro sues USDA, Secretary Rollins over canceled $13 million food purchasing program
By Jaxon White/LNP | LancasterOnline
Photo courtesy of the Governor's Office of Communications.
Gov. Josh Shapiro announced on June 6 that he was suing the USDA for the $13 million in cancelled federal funding for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Assistance Program.
Gov. Josh Shapiro filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the U.S. Department of Agriculture over $13 million in canceled federal funding to a program for farmers who sell products to food banks.
Shapiro’s lawsuit follows his March threat to sue the USDA if Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program funds, which support food banks and food-access organizations, were not distributed.
Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding has repeatedly contacted the USDA in recent months trying to retrieve the LFPA money. Shapiro said in a Wednesday news conference that Redding even traveled to Washington last month to meet with USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins about the canceled funds.
But Shapiro said Rollins and the USDA never answered how they would address his administration’s concerns.
“We have exhausted all options to be able to resolve this matter simply through dialogue,” Shapiro said from a podium at the Share Food Program in Philadelphia. “And I’m tired of waiting for someone to stand up for our farmers and our food banks. That task falls to us.”
Shapiro said the lawsuit calls on the USDA to “simply honor its commitment to our farmers, to honor its commitment to folks who are hungry, and to simply follow the contract that they signed.”
Pennsylvania is one of dozens of states that receive a piece of the $1 billion nationwide program that helps states buy food from local farms to give to schools, child care facilities and food banks.
Shapiro’s administration said Pennsylvania is the first state to take the USDA to court over the canceled funds.
The USDA declined to comment on pending litigation.
The USDA declined to comment on pending litigation.
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Filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Shapiro’s lawsuit says the less than $30 million in prior LFPA funding from the USDA helped provide nearly 30 million pounds of Pennsylvania-sourced food to more than 6.1 million households statewide.
The docket provides letters between Redding’s office and the USDA, including the initial notice about the terminated funds in which the USDA said the program agreement “no longer effectuates agency priorities.”
The USDA had signed a contract in December to continue the LFPA program with Pennsylvania in 2025.
Representing Shapiro’s administration is a slate of attorneys from the state’s Office of General Counsel.
District Judge Joseph Saporito, appointed to the bench by President Joe Biden in 2024, was assigned to hear the case.
The LFPA lawsuit is not Shapiro’s first against President Donald Trump’s administration. In February, the first-term Democrat, widely considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, announced his lawsuit challenging Trump’s federal funding freeze was successful in releasing $2.1 billion allocated to Pennsylvania — a fact Shapiro touted Wednesday.
“I got a pretty good track record when I take Donald Trump to court,” Shapiro said. “We’re going to win this, and we’re going to get our money back for the good people of Pennsylvania.”
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