An effort by the USDA to roll back nutritional standards for school meals has been rejected by a federal court.

At issue were requirements that school breakfasts and lunches would have to contain progressively lower levels of sodium and serve only whole-grain products. The USDA extended the deadline for those requirements in a 2017 interim final rule. But in 2018, it reduced the final target for whole grains to 50% and eliminated the last stage of the sodium cutback entirely. That prompted a lawsuit by consumer protection groups, on the grounds that the final rule was not a “logical outgrowth” of the interim final rule.

On April 13, the U.S. District Court for Maryland agreed, saying the USDA had violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

The nutrition rules had been set up as part of a nutritional initiative by former First Lady Michelle Obama. President Trump has made overturning protective regulations from the Obama administration a priority. The judge in the case, George J. Hazel, was appointed by Obama.