The Trump Administration’s Department of Justice has sued the State of California over Propositions 12 and 2, alleging that the state laws, which ban the in-state sale of pork, eggs, and veal from animals “confined in a cruel manner,” are raising egg prices nationwide.

In response, Food & Water Watch Research Director Amanda Starbuck issued the following statement:

“Trump’s baseless Prop 12 lawsuit will do nothing to lower egg prices. The Supreme Court has twice rejected efforts to overturn the voters’ will on Proposition 12. This lawsuit is nothing more than a bald-faced effort to scapegoat commonsense protections against animal cruelty, when the administration should instead be investigating price-gouging by the egg oligarchy.

“Tackling high food prices must begin with cracking down on the food monopolies — not waging war for them in court. Gutting critical animal welfare regulations will only take us backwards, enabling an archaic race-to-the-bottom where consumers lose out to the largest agribusiness corporations.”

The Supreme Court first upheld Proposition 12 in 2023. The decision in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross was widely celebrated as a victory against the worst factory farm abuses, and a win for state authority to expand protective measures, affirming that states can regulate goods sold within their borders. The Supreme Court again denied an Iowa Pork Producers Association effort to overturn Proposition 12 just last month.

A recent report by the consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch — “The Economic Cost of Food Monopolies: The Rotten Egg Oligarchy” — details how Cal-Maine has used the bird flu crisis to raise consumer prices and reap tremendous profits at consumer expense.

The report is the latest installment from Food & Water Watch in a series examining the Economic Cost of Food Monopolies, following research on the retail grocery, pork, and dairy industries.