At the first public event of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) coalition in April, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged governors to restrict food assistance for their constituents. Since then, many states have done so, earning praise from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who has called them "pioneers in improving the health of our nation."

These restrictions have taken the form of amendments to the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), colloquially known as food stamps. The most significant change is that, beginning in January 2026, a dozen states will begin excluding certain items from the program's definition of "food," such as soda, energy drinks, and candy. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen described the motivation for introducing these restrictions. "There's absolutely zero reason for taxpayers to be subsidizing purchases of soda and energy drinks," he said. "SNAP is about helping families in need get healthy food into their diets, but there's nothing nutritious about the junk we're removing with today's waiver."