Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, a strong support of requiring new voters to provide proof of their U.S. citizenship when registering, answers questions during an interview with The Associated Press, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in his office in Topeka, Kan. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

On Monday, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (R) filed a lawsuit against Gov. Laura Kelly (D) to force the release of sensitive data for thousands of Kansas residents to the Trump administration.

Last month, Kelly and Kansas Department for Children and Families Secretary Laura Howard denied the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s request for sensitive information for enrollees in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The data includes the Social Security numbers, home addresses and birthdates of 730,000 Kansans who applied or received SNAP benefits from Jan. 1, 2020 to July 31,2025.

Kelly and Howard were apprehensive to hand over the information because they were not told how it would be used, and they feared for the privacy of Kansans. The federal government under Trump’s second term has made it a priority to collect sensitive data from several states in an unprecedented breach of privacy. A whistleblower complaint last month said that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) put the personal data of millions of Americans similar to what Kobach is requesting onto a server vulnerable to hacks in June.

Kobach said he felt it was necessary to take legal action because he feels that Kelly is “flagrantly violating the law.”

“She appears to be playing a game of chicken, apparently unaware of her obligation under Kansas statute and perhaps also unaware that federal law requires her to provide this information,” Kobach said in a press conference alongside Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins (R-Wichita).

Kelly responded by criticizing both men for refusing to meet with her before filing a lawsuit.

“Attorney General Kobach and Speaker Hawkins are engaging in what can only be described as low-rent political theater,” Kelly said. “We learned last week that the attorney general made vague statements about suing me in Alaska. My chief of staff made requests to both the attorney general and speaker for meetings to discuss this issue on Friday, and both declined to meet.”