The firebrand HHS Secretary is on a crusade to make America healthier. Now he’s completely changed the playbook.
And RFK Jr. blindsided state governments with one unexpected order.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stepped into the spotlight on Friday, announcing that states can now request waivers to exclude soda from the federal food stamp program.
It’s a bold move, and West Virginia is already jumping on board, aligning with Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” vision.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey joined Kennedy in Martinsburg to unveil the state’s plan. West Virginia intends to seek federal approval to stop food stamp recipients from using benefits to buy sugary sodas while also tightening work and educational training requirements for the program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Kennedy promised swift action, saying he’d sign off on the waivers to make West Virginia a trailblazer in reshaping SNAP standards.
Kennedy didn’t hold back in his pitch to the nation. “The message that I want to give to the country today and to all the other governors is get in line behind Governor Morrissey and apply for a waiver to my agency, and we’re going to give it to you. That’s the way we’re going to win this,” he said.
Interestingly, SNAP isn’t even under Kennedy’s HHS umbrella; it’s managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
But USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins is on the same page, agreeing that SNAP shouldn’t fund foods that fuel poor health. She’s all in for state-led waivers, even though she didn’t make the trip to Martinsburg.
Morrisey laid out his state’s wishlist: no soda purchases with SNAP benefits and a push for more work and training obligations. “I think we can all agree work is good, work is moral and it helps us be stronger in the mind and body and we need more of that right here in West Virginia,” he said.
“Outside of limited exceptions, if you have the ability to work, you should.” Details on how those requirements will expand remain under wraps for now.
SNAP currently serves about 42 million people nationwide, costing $113 billion annually. In West Virginia alone, 277,400 residents—one in six—relied on the program in 2024, per the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
With the state topping the charts for adult obesity at 41.2%, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Morrisey sees this as a chance “to realign SNAP so that good food choices are easier to make if taxpayers are paying for it.”
Historically, the USDA has turned down every state request to cut sugary foods from SNAP. But Kennedy insists that’s about to change. He didn’t mince words, calling sugar “just as addictive as crack and almost as bad for you,” and took aim at soda companies, accusing them of strong-arming governors.
“They are telling them that they are going to stop writing checks, that they are going to run people against them, that they are going to destroy their political careers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Congress is stirring the pot too. Rep. Josh Brecheen, an Oklahoma Republican, has introduced a bill to ban soda, candy, ice cream, and other sugary items from SNAP nationwide.
Back at the USDA, Rollins seems ready to play ball. In a recent letter to states, she voiced support for “state innovation through approvals of waivers and pilot projects” to promote healthier outcomes—perfectly in sync with Kennedy’s push.
West Virginia’s not stopping at soda. Morrisey recently signed a law banning certain red, yellow, blue, and green food dyes from school lunches and state-sold foods, another nod to Kennedy’s agenda. Kennedy himself has been pressing the FDA to tighten rules on dyes and urging food industry leaders to ditch artificial colors voluntarily.
Morrisey’s dreaming bigger, hoping his dye ban “is going to lead to a broader national discussion and FDA action so we can have more consistent policies across the nation.”
