The Trump administration is gearing up for a fight with Democratic-led states over SNAP. On Tuesday, officials said they’re ready to start withholding food aid next week unless those states hand over detailed information about people on the program.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins made it clear during a Cabinet meeting. She said her department has been asking for basic data — names, immigration status, other standard information, and that several states just won’t cough it up. Rollins said the cooperation is important to check fraud. Democrats have taken the issue to court.
So far, 22 states and Washington, D.C. have sued, pushing back on the data demand first made back in February. A federal judge in San Francisco has already stopped the administration, at least temporarily, from collecting anything from those states.
.@SecRollins drops multiple BOMBSHELLS:
-SNAP is going to make EVERY recipient reapply to verify “they can’t survive without it”
-Benefits are being paid to nearly 200,000 dead people
-Half a MILLION recipients are double-dipping
“This is just data from 29 mostly red states.… pic.twitter.com/CrVBUxWUxz
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 14, 2025
Even so, the government sent out another letter last week. It told the holdouts it was time to comply. Everyone then agreed on a short countdown. Responses are due by Dec. 8.
The administration insists this is all about rooting out fraud. SNAP is huge; it feeds roughly 42 million low-income Americans. That’s one out of every eight people in the country. The average benefit is around $190 a month, barely more than six bucks a day.
Rollins claims that the 28 states that have handed over data — mostly Republican, plus North Carolina, have troubling numbers. According to her, 186,000 dead people are still showing up as SNAP recipients, and 500,000 people are getting benefits more than once.
“We asked for all the states for the first time to turn over their data to the federal government to let the USDA partner with them to root out this fraud, to make sure that those who really need food stamps are getting them,” Rollins said, “but also to ensure that the American taxpayer is protected.”
So far, though, her office hasn’t released the specifics behind those claims or any dollar amounts related to fraudulent payouts.
Experts say fraud exists; noting that SNAP is a $100-billion-a-year program. However, most of the real damage comes from organized crime rings, not everyday families trying to buy groceries.
BREAKING: Trump just WARNED all states that they MUST undo ANY effort to pay out SNAP benefits to their residents. pic.twitter.com/EWFwpFqJih
— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) November 9, 2025
Rep. Jahana Hayes, a Connecticut Democrat backing legislation to roll back recent SNAP changes, accused Rollins of pushing big changes without transparency and without Congress. She said the administration is creating a false image of who’s really abusing the system.
“Individuals who are just trying to buy food, those aren’t the ones who aren’t gaming the system in the way that the administration is trying to portray,” Hayes said Tuesday, before Rollins made her announcement.
Democrats fired back following Rollins’ remarks.
“The Governor wishes President Trump would be a president for all Americans rather than taking out his political vendettas on the people who need these benefits the most,” said Claire Lancaster, spokesperson for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. “Whether it’s threatening highway funding or food assistance, the President is making malicious decisions that will raise prices and harm families.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul asked on social media, “Genuine question: Why is the Trump Administration so hellbent on people going hungry?”
SNAP usually stays out of the partisan spotlight, but not this year. As part of Trump’s major tax and policy bill, new work requirements are expanding to cover older adults between 55 and 64, homeless individuals, and others.
Then came the government shutdown. At one point, the administration planned to stop funding SNAP for November. Courts came to the picture back and forth, but the shutdown ended before the question was fully resolved. Washington scrambled but some states rushed to cover benefits themselves and most boosted or sped up support for food banks.
