Case: United States v. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

1:26-cv-01950 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan

Filed Date: June 26, 2026

Case Ongoing

Clearinghouse coding in progress

Case Summary

(This summary is temporary, while we research the case.) The United States filed suit against the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and its Director, Elizabeth Hertel, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, asserting a claim under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (FNA) for failure to comply with a federal records request. The complaint alleged that after USDA sought SNAP eligibility and benefit records from all state agencies to detect waste, fraud, an…

(This summary is temporary, while we research the case.)

The United States filed suit against the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and its Director, Elizabeth Hertel, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, asserting a claim under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (FNA) for failure to comply with a federal records request. The complaint alleged that after USDA sought SNAP eligibility and benefit records from all state agencies to detect waste, fraud, and abuse pursuant to Executive Order 14,243, Michigan was among twenty-two states that did not comply, prompting separate APA litigation by those states' attorneys general in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that resulted in a preliminary injunction on the narrow basis of USDA's data-sharing protocols. The complaint further alleged that after USDA revised its records request and protocols to conform to the California court's guidance and sent a Third Records Request directly to Michigan in May 2026, Michigan failed to comply. The United States sought a declaratory judgment that Michigan violated the FNA and a permanent injunction compelling Michigan to comply with USDA's Third Records Request within seven days.

People

For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73543214/parties/united-states-v-michigan-department-of-health-and-human-services/


Judge(s)

Jarbou, Hala Yalda (Michigan)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Trundle, Colin W. (Michigan)

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Documents in the Clearinghouse

Document
1

1:26-cv-01950

Complaint For Declaratory Judgment And Permanent Injunction

June 26, 2026

June 26, 2026

Complaint

Resources

Docket

See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73543214/united-states-v-michigan-department-of-health-and-human-services/

Last updated July 21, 2026, 3:06 a.m.

ECF Number Description Date Link Date / Link
1

COMPLAINT against Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Elizabeth Hertel filed by United States of America (Attachments: # 1 Index Table of Contents, # 2 Exhibit A, # 3 Exhibit 1, # 4 Exhibit 2, # 5 Exhibit 3, # 6 Exhibit 4, # 7 Exhibit 5, # 8 Exhibit 6, # 9 Exhibit 7, # 10 Exhibit 8, # 11 Exhibit 9, # 12 Exhibit 10, # 13 Exhibit 11, # 14 Exhibit 12, # 15 Exhibit 13, # 16 Exhibit 14, # 17 Exhibit 15, # 18 Exhibit 16, # 19 Exhibit 17, # 20 Exhibit 18) (Trundle, Colin) Modified text on 6/29/2026 (ns). (Entered: 06/26/2026)

1 Index Table of Contents

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2 Exhibit A

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3 Exhibit 1

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4 Exhibit 2

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5 Exhibit 3

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6 Exhibit 4

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7 Exhibit 5

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8 Exhibit 6

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9 Exhibit 7

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10 Exhibit 8

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11 Exhibit 9

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12 Exhibit 10

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13 Exhibit 11

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14 Exhibit 12

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15 Exhibit 13

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16 Exhibit 14

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17 Exhibit 15

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18 Exhibit 16

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19 Exhibit 17

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20 Exhibit 18

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June 26, 2026

June 26, 2026

Clearinghouse
2

CORRECTED EXHIBIT A re 1 by plaintiff United States of America (Trundle, Colin) Modified text on 6/29/2026 (ns). (Entered: 06/27/2026)

June 27, 2026

June 27, 2026

3

PROPOSED SUMMONS to be issued re 1 (Trundle, Colin) (Entered: 06/29/2026)

June 29, 2026

June 29, 2026

4

NOTICE that this case has been assigned to Hala Y. Jarbou (ns) (Entered: 06/29/2026)

June 29, 2026

June 29, 2026

5

SUMMONS ISSUED as to defendants Elizabeth Hertel, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (ns) (Entered: 06/29/2026)

June 29, 2026

June 29, 2026

6

Amended EXHIBIT re 1 Exhibit A by plaintiff United States of America (Trundle, Colin) (Entered: 06/29/2026)

June 29, 2026

June 29, 2026

RECAP
7

NOTICE re 1 Amended Table of Contents by plaintiff United States of America (Trundle, Colin) (Entered: 06/29/2026)

June 29, 2026

June 29, 2026

RECAP

(NON-DOCUMENT) ATTORNEY APPEARANCE of Cadesby Brawner Cooper on behalf of plaintiff United States of America (Cooper, Cadesby)

June 30, 2026

June 30, 2026

Attorney Appearance

June 30, 2026

June 30, 2026

(NON-DOCUMENT) ATTORNEY APPEARANCE of Daniel Joseph Petrokas on behalf of plaintiff United States of America (Petrokas, Daniel)

July 2, 2026

July 2, 2026

(NON-DOCUMENT) ATTORNEY APPEARANCE of Kyu Yun Kim on behalf of plaintiff United States of America (Kim, Kyu Yun)

July 6, 2026

July 6, 2026

11

Preliminary Injunction

1 Attachment Memorandum of Points and Authorities

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2 Attachment Certificate of Word Count

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3 Proposed Order

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July 13, 2026

July 13, 2026

12

Stipulation and Order (Proposed-one document)

July 14, 2026

July 14, 2026

13

Stipulation and Order

July 14, 2026

July 14, 2026

Case Details

State / Territory:

Michigan

Case Type(s):

Public Benefits/Government Services

Special Collection(s):

Trump Administration 2.0: Litigation and Investigations By the Government

Key Dates

Filing Date: June 26, 2026

Case Ongoing: Yes

Case Details

Other Dockets:

Western District of Michigan 1:26-cv-01950

Available Documents:

Complaint (any)

Trial Court Docket

Recommended Citation