The Trump administration is suing the state of California to dam animal welfare legal guidelines that it says unconstitutionally helped ship egg costs hovering. However a bunch that spearheaded the necessities pushed again, blaming chook flu for the hit to customers’ pocketbooks.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court docket in California on Wednesday, challenges voter initiatives that handed in 2018 and 2008. They require that each one eggs offered in California come from cage-free hens.
The Trump administration says the regulation imposes burdensome pink tape on the manufacturing of eggs and egg merchandise throughout the nation due to the state’s outsize position within the nationwide financial system.
“It’s one factor if California passes legal guidelines that impacts its personal State, it’s one other when these legal guidelines have an effect on different States in violation of the U.S. Structure,” U.S. Agriculture Brooke Rollins mentioned in an announcement Thursday. “Fortunately, President Trump is standing up towards this overreach.”
Egg costs soared final 12 months and earlier this 12 months due largely to chook flu, which has compelled producers to destroy practically 175 million birds since early 2022. However costs have come down sharply lately. Whereas the Trump administration claims credit score for that, seasonal elements are additionally essential. Avian influenza, which is unfold by wild birds, tends to spike through the spring and fall migrations and drop in summer season.
“Pointing fingers received’t change the actual fact that it’s the President’s financial insurance policies which have been harmful,” the California Division of Justice mentioned in an announcement Friday. “We’ll see him in court docket.”
The common nationwide worth for a dozen Grade A eggs declined to $5.12 in April and $4.55 in Could after reaching a document $6.23 in March, in keeping with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However the Could worth was nonetheless 68.5% increased than a 12 months earlier.
“Trump’s again to his favourite passion: blaming California for actually all the things,” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s workplace mentioned in a social media put up.
The federal grievance alleges that California contributed to the rise in egg costs with rules that compelled farmers throughout the nation to undertake costlier manufacturing practices. The lawsuit additionally asserts that it’s the federal authorities’s authorized prerogative to manage egg manufacturing. So it seeks to completely block enforcement of the California rules that flowed from the 2 poll measures.
“Individuals throughout the nation have suffered the implications of liberal insurance policies inflicting huge inflation for on a regular basis objects like eggs,” Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi mentioned in an announcement. “Beneath President Trump’s management, we are going to use the complete extent of federal regulation to make sure that American households are free from oppressive regulatory burdens and restore American prosperity.”
Whereas 2018’s Proposition 12 additionally banned the sale of pork and veal in California from animals raised in cages that don’t meet minimal dimension necessities, the lawsuit solely focuses on the state’s egg guidelines.
Humane World for Animals, which was named the Humane Society of the US when it spearheaded the passage of Proposition 12, says avian influenza and different elements drove up egg costs, not animal welfare legal guidelines. And it says a lot of the U.S. egg business went cage-free anyway due to demand from customers who don’t need eggs from hens confined to tiny areas.
“California has prohibited the sale of cruelly produced eggs for greater than a decade — regulation that has been upheld by courts at each degree, together with the Supreme Courtroom. Blaming 2025 egg costs on these established animal welfare requirements reveals that this case is about pure politics, not constitutional regulation,” Sara Amundson, president of the Humane World Motion Fund, mentioned in an announcement.
The American Egg Board, which represents the business, mentioned Friday that it’ll monitor the progress of the lawsuit whereas persevering with to adjust to California’s legal guidelines, and that it appreciates Rollins’ efforts to help farmers of their combat towards chook flu and to stabilize the egg provide.
“Egg farmers have been each responsive and accountable in assembly altering demand for cage-free eggs, whereas supporting all forms of egg manufacturing, and persevering with to supply choices within the egg case for customers,” the board mentioned in an announcement.
