US Agriculture Secretary Brock Rollins said this week that the federal government would start Withholding money To help run SNAP food assistance program Of the countries that do not provide data on participants, including their immigration status.
The department said the government needs the data to detect fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps 42 million Americans, or about 1 in 8, buy groceries.
The plan to withhold administrative funds is an escalation of a legal battle that has been ongoing since shortly after President Donald Trump took office. It’s definitely partisan. Only Democratic-led states failed to provide the information the administration sought.
Here’s what you should know.
SNAP costs federal taxpayers about $100 billion a year. Of this amount, about $94 billion goes to interest and the rest to administrative costs.
The federal government currently offsets about half of states’ cost of administering SNAP, though that cost is scheduled to drop to 25% next October.
The amount states receive varies widely, as does the portion of state SNAP funding that goes to administrative costs. When excluding coronavirus pandemic bonus funds, Wyoming, for example, received less than $9 million to administer SNAP through fiscal year 2023, the most recent time frame for which data is available. This represents 12% of SNAP funding. California, the most populous state, received more than $1.2 billion to administer SNAP, nearly 10% of total SNAP allocations. Florida received $84 million for the administration, just over 1% of total federal SNAP funding.
Some experts have warned that shifting costs to states — even if not completely withheld — could be such a large expense that some might give up SNAP.
Some states are already preparing to bear more costs. Connecticut recently allocated $500 million to offset potential cuts in federal funding to states. It’s up to Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, to decide whether to tap that to cover SNAP costs.
The USDA plans to notify states that have not provided the required information that they are out of compliance as soon as next week. States will have more time to comply.
Then they can appeal.
Kansas was notified in September that it would lose administrative funds for failing to share required data. This state is still attractive and has not seen a cut yet.
The administration began requesting data on SNAP beneficiaries from states shortly after President Donald Trump returned to office early in the year, saying it was essential to detect fraud and abuse.
Since then, 28 states have sent data; All of them except North Carolina have Republican governors.
Twenty-two states plus the District of Columbia — all with Democratic governors or attorneys general — have sued to block the request. A federal judge based in San Francisco has stayed its implementation for now. The states suing say there is a privacy issue when sharing recipient information with the federal government.
“Even if you are on SNAP and get nutrition benefits, as 42 million Americans do, does that mean your privacy should now be violated or that you have to provide this information that has nothing to do with this program?” New York Governor Kathy Hochul told Fox 5 New York on Wednesday.
One state — Nevada, which has a Republican governor and a Democratic attorney general — has complied and sued. The state of Kansas, with a Democratic governor and Republican attorney general, did not comply and did not sue.
Whether the administration’s latest efforts will be allowed is another issue that the courts are also likely to resolve.
Rollins said the findings in states that complied with the request shed new light on the fraud.
She said that she revealed that 186,000 deceased people received aid, and about 500,000 received it in more than one place. It’s not clear how many cases represent fraud versus people dying or moving and systems not being able to catch up immediately — or how many cases involve fake people created by criminal operations to illegally obtain benefits.
“Any misuse of federal funding is a problem, no matter how big or small, because it means that people who need the program are not receiving it directly,” said U.S. Rep. Jahanna Hayes, a Democrat from Connecticut who is the ranking member on the subcommittee dealing with SNAP. “It is our most effective anti-hunger program and operates very efficiently and transparently.”
Under the sweeping tax and policy law Trump signed in July, more beneficiaries will have to do so Work, go to school, or volunteer To receive benefits for more than three months every three years. Those affected include adults aged 55 to 64, homeless people and people with children aged 14 to 17.
Starting in 2028, states will have to contribute to benefit costs if they make errors in more than 6% of payments.