Federal Judge Tosses DOJ’s Lawsuit Against California’s Egg Law

The Justice Department was given two weeks to file an amended complaint.

Cage-free chickens inside a facility at Hilliker's Ranch Fresh Eggs in Lakeside, Calif., on April 19, 2022. Mike Blake/Reuters

A federal judge in Los Angeles tossed out the Trump administration’s attempt to bring down the price of eggs by challenging California’s strict egg production laws on March 18, finding that the government failed to prove that it suffered injury from the state laws.

Judge Mark Scarsi of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, who was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, dismissed the case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice but gave the government two weeks to file an amended complaint that shows injury.

“Rejecting Plaintiff’s sovereign injury theory aligns with sound jurisprudence,” Scarsi said.

The DOJ stated that California’s restrictive egg laws hurt working-class families across the United States by prohibiting farmers from using commonly accepted agricultural methods that helped keep eggs affordable.

Scarsi found that the government failed to show how the laws affected the federal government itself, however.

The judge also said that allowing the federal government to claim sovereign injury over each state law would create “potential for abuse of the federal courts for political purposes.”

The DOJ filed the lawsuit in July 2025 in the Los Angeles District Court, alleging that the state’s voter-approved Proposition 12, which was approved by 63 percent of voters in 2018, violated the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution and was preempted by the federal Egg Products Inspection Act. The Trump administration claimed that state laws contributed to higher national egg prices.

“Americans across the country have suffered the consequences of liberal policies causing massive inflation for everyday items like eggs,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time.

The DOJ didn’t return a request for comment about the judge’s dismissal or say whether the department plans to file an amended complaint.

The proposition, called the “Farm Animal Confinement Initiative,” prohibited the confinement of calves raised for veal, breeding pigs, and egg-laying hens.

The law also required chickens to be cage-free and farmers to provide larger enclosures for other animals before their eggs or meat could be sold at the market.

Chickens at an egg processing plant at the Dwight Bell Farm in Atwater, Calif., on Sept. 10, 2008. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez File

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “Today’s decision affirms that the Trump administration had no valid case against California’s voter-approved animal welfare laws.”

California was joined by several animal welfare groups in its motion to dismiss the case.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a challenge to the state’s voter-approved law in July 2025. A group sued the state, arguing that it harmed farmers and consumers nationwide and could lead to supply chain disruptions.

In the ruling, justices sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit for more consideration and did not explain their decision.