The United States Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, stated on Tuesday (December 2nd) that if states led by the Democratic Party continue to refuse to submit data for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to the federal government, the government will suspend allocating federal funds for managing the program to those states next week.
At a cabinet meeting held at the White House on Tuesday, Rollins specifically pointed out “blue states” such as California, New York, and Minnesota, led by the Democratic Party, and warned, “Starting next week, we have already and will continue to stop allocating federal funds to these states until they comply with the requirements, provide us with the data, and allow us to work with them to eliminate this fraud in order to protect the interests of American taxpayers.”
The Secretary mentioned that in February of this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture first requested all 50 states in the country to submit data for their SNAP program. She noted that 29 Republican-led “red states” have complied with the request, but 21 “blue states” have refused to cooperate.
Democratic Party-governed states oppose the U.S. Department of Agriculture collecting data on SNAP beneficiaries, including their immigration status and social security numbers, calling it an illegal invasion of privacy. The Department of Agriculture, however, states that it will use this data to combat fraud.
Although SNAP benefits are funded by the federal government, they are managed by individual states, which are responsible for maintaining records of beneficiaries. The Department of Agriculture and states jointly bear the management costs of the program.
In July of this year, 22 Democratic Party governors of states and the District of Columbia sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the data request issue. A federal judge ruled in October that the Department of Agriculture cannot withhold SNAP funding due to states not submitting data.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture stated that the agency has established an “SNAP Integrity Team” to analyze state data.
The spokesperson said, “We have once again requested that states governed by the Democratic Party submit data, and if they still do not comply, they will receive a formal warning – the Department of Agriculture will withdraw their management funds.”
Approximately 42 million people receive SNAP benefits nationwide. However, following the federal judge’s ruling in October, Agriculture Department officials stated that they would withhold administrative funds for managing SNAP from states that do not comply with the data request, rather than directly withholding SNAP benefits from recipients.