Noem threatens to sue Biden administration over SNAP funding

PIERRE, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Gov. Kristi Noem claims she will sue the Biden administration over a move to withhold funding from schools that discriminate against LGBTQ+ students.

Noem’s announcement Thursday comes after the USDA last month announced an initiative to “interpret the prohibition on discrimination based on sex” found in a number of federal programs - including Title IX, the SNAP program, and the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

South Dakota could potentially lose out on funding for these programs based on a new law championed by Noem that would ban transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports in the state.

“President Biden is holding lunch money for poor Americans hostage in pursuit of his radical agenda. He is insisting that we allow biological males to compete in girls’ sports or else lose funding for SNAP and school lunch programs,” Noem said in a press release. “South Dakota will continue to defend basic fairness so that our girls can compete and achieve. I would remind President Biden that we have defeated him in litigation before and are ready to do so again. Mr. President, we’ll see you in court.”

The USDA initiative is based on an executive order from President Joe Biden that says, in part, “children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”