OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from forcing the state to turn over personal data from hundreds of thousands of residents.

My Bellingham Now previously reported that the state Attorney General’s Office joined a lawsuit in July after the U.S. Department of Agriculture demanded data from SNAP recipients across the country.

SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, offers billions of dollars in federal funds to tens of millions of low-income families across the country.

Users of the program provide the state with sensitive information, including social security numbers and home addresses.

State attorney general Nick Brown applauded the judge’s decision on Friday.

The AG’s office claims the USDA has repeatedly threatened to withhold funding for the program if states don’t turn over the data.

Washington receives nearly $130 million a year for SNAP and the AG’s Office warns that any delay in that funding could be catastrophic for residents who rely on the program for food.

According to the Department of Agriculture, roughly 900,000 Washington residents received SNAP benefits as of May of this year.