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More than a dozen Democratic-led states have been threatened by President Donald Trump's administration with losing federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding if they do not provide data about people receiving assistance.
California, New York and Minnesota were named by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), along with "19 other blue states," as being warned that they risk action if they refuse to hand over information*—such as names and immigration status—*of recipients.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said cooperation is needed to root out fraud in the program, but a host of Democratic states have sued to block the request, arguing that they verify eligibility for SNAP beneficiaries and that they never share large swaths of sensitive program data with the federal government.
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Why It Matters
About 42 million Americans use SNAP to help buy groceries each month, making it the nation's most significant anti-hunger program. The administration's push for increased recipient data has led to legal standoffs and raised concerns about privacy and legality.
States and the federal government split the cost of running SNAP, with the federal government paying the full cost of benefits. After Rollins' remarks, a USDA spokesperson told the Associated Press that the agency was targeting the administrative funds, not the benefits people receive.
The request is part of a wider push from the federal government to tackle fraud. Last month, Rollins announced plans to make all recipients reapply for the program in an effort to tackle abuse.
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What To Know
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Rollins said, "Twenty-one states*—including California, New York and Minnesota, the 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."
After the meeting, a USDA spokesperson told Newsweek: "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. 28 States and Guam joined us in this fight; but states like California, New York, and Minnesota, among 19 other blue States, keep fighting us.
"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 USDA said the 28 states that had handed over their data were Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
They did not provide a list of the states that had not handed over their data, but those not mentioned as compliant were Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.
It is not clear whether Washington, D.C., is among those being threatened with action. In July, the U.S. capital joined the coalition of states that sued the USDA over the sharing of personal information.
What People Are Saying
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote on X: "NO DATA, NO MONEY—it's that simple. If a state won't share data on criminal use of SNAP benefits, it won't get a dollar of federal SNAP administrative funding. Let's see which states stand for accountability and which are just protecting their bribery schemes."
David Super, a law professor at Georgetown University, told the Associated Press: "There's never authority to withhold the SNAP benefits and, in this case, there's also no authority to withhold the administrative funding."
What Happens Next
The states and the USDA have agreed to a December 8 deadline for responses. Meanwhile, separate legal challenges are ongoing, with a federal judge in San Francisco temporarily barring the administration from collecting the data from states that have filed the suit.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
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