The Trump administration has threatened to suspend Snap food assistance to several Democratic-led states unless they turn over recipient data to the federal government.
Agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins said Tuesday that the USDA could begin blocking funds as early as next week if Democratic-led states continue to reject federal requests for Snap recipient data – information that includes immigration status and social security numbers.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Rollins said the USDA needed the data from each state to “root out this fraud, to make sure that those who really need food stamps are getting them, but also to ensure that the American taxpayer is protected”.
“Twenty-nine states said yes – not surprisingly, the red states, and that’s where all of that data, that fraud comes from. But 21 states including California, New York and Minnesota, blue states, continue to say no. So as of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply and they tell us and allow us to partner with them to root out this fraud and to protect the American taxpayer.”
In a separate statement to the Guardian, a USDA spokesperson said: “USDA established a Snap integrity team to analyze not only data provided by states, but to scrub all available information to end indiscriminate welfare fraud.
“Twenty-eight states and Guam joined us in this fight; but states like California, New York, and Minnesota, among 19 other blue states, keep fighting us.”
The spokesperson added: “They choose to protect illegals, criminals, and bad actors over the American taxpayer. We have sent Democrat states yet another request for data, and if they fail to comply, they will be provided with formal warning that USDA will pull their administrative funds,”
The administration did not immediately release a full list of the states that would be targeted under this plan.
In July, over a dozen Democratic senators issued a letter to Rollins, calling the administration’s attempt to build a database on federal food aid recipients an “unlawful privacy violation.”
The latest announcement from the administration has raised renewed criticisms of the plan, with New York’s Democratic governor Kathy Hochul saying on X: “Genuine question: Why is the Trump administration so hellbent on people going hungry?”
Similarly, Democrats on the House agriculture committee said: “Yet again, Trump and Rollins are illegally threatening to withhold federal dollars. Snap has one of the lowest fraud rates of any government program, but Trump continues to weaponize hunger.”
Angie Craig, the ranking member of the committee echoed similar sentiments, saying: “Rather than address the rising cost of living, the secretary is once again weaponizing hunger by putting political talking points ahead of feeding seniors, children, veterans and Americans with disabilities.”
“Her disregard for the law and willingness to lie through her teeth comes from the very top,” Craig said, calling the Trump administration “as corrupt as it is lawless”.
According to the Snap website, nearly 42 million people relied on the program each month in fiscal year 2024, with 67% of individuals participating in the program being a child, an elderly adult or an adult with a disability.
Despite Rollins previously calling the Snap program “extremely corrupt,” a 2023 USDA factsheet reported that the “majority of Snap benefits are used as intended”.
Of the 261,770 authorized retailers, only 1,980 were disqualified, 561 were fined and 1,681 received warning letters that year.
