USDA Secretary Says All SNAP Recipients Must Reapply, Dubiously Citing Fraud

Last week, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that she plans to force the millions of low-income recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, to reapply for the program.

In comments to Newsmax, Rollins claimed a reapplication process was needed to “make sure that everyone that’s taking a taxpayer-funded benefit through … food stamps, that they literally are vulnerable and they can’t survive without it.”

The news comes just weeks after the Trump administration announced that, during the government shutdown, it would not provide SNAP benefits to those reliant on the program, citing a lack of funding. However, as a federal judge pointed out at the time, billions of dollars in an emergency reserve fund for the program were readily available, as well as funds from other programs that could be transferred to SNAP.

This marked the first time that SNAP benefits were not distributed on time, and broke with the government’s precedent of continuing to provide recipients with funds for food even during shutdowns, to ensure households across the country don’t go hungry.

Rollins further claimed the program was “corrupt,” citing instances of supposed fraud that were uncovered in an audit of Republican-run states.

“Can you imagine when we get our hands on the blue state data what we’re going to find?” she added.

But many of the examples Rollins cited don’t actually constitute fraud — possibly including her claim that 186,000 “deceased men and women and children” are still “receiving a check” from SNAP. (The program doesn’t issue checks but rather EBT cards). Instead, instances of overpayment and other misappropriated funds are likely due to administrative errors by states running their respective versions of the program or by USDA itself.

“Errors are not the same as fraud. Fraud is intentional activity that breaks federal and/or state laws, while errors are mistakes,” an online explainer from Congress states. “Certain acts, such as trafficking, are always considered fraud, but other acts, such as duplicate enrollment, may be either errors or fraud depending on the circumstances of the case.”

“SNAP fraud is rare,” that explainer also noted.

Indeed, even if all of the purported fraud numbers Rollins cited in her interview last week were accurate, they would account for fewer than 1 percent of all payments given to the 42 million people currently on SNAP.

Notably, states already require SNAP beneficiaries to resubmit their information at least once and sometimes twice per year. Forcing recipients to do so yet again would be an unnecessary barrier to those in need at a time when benefits have just recently been delayed.

The Trump administration has frequently peddled claims that workers are taking advantage of SNAP coverage, with Trump himself even claiming workers are quitting their jobs just to qualify. Doing so would be incredibly disadvantageous — on average, SNAP recipients receive only around $6 a day in food benefits. On top of that, there are strict work requirements in place for non-disabled adults to receive SNAP payments.

Several observers condemned Rollins’s plan to force millions of Americans to reapply for SNAP.

“States like North Carolina already require most SNAP recipients to reapply every six months,” former Gov. Roy Cooper (D) wrote on X. “This would do nothing but add more red tape and force more kids to go hungry.”

“Forcing millions to reapply is a deliberate effort to shrink the program and leave families hungry,” Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) said on Bluesky. “It’s bullshit. It’s cruel. And it’s indefensible.”

Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director for Campaign for New York Health, argued that the government should shift its priorities.

“We should be requiring the billionaires and corporations that Trump is giving trillions more in unnecessary tax breaks to, to prove they can’t survive without them,” D’Arrigo said.

Author and disability rights activist Jessica Jewett said the demand for recipients to reapply for benefits was burdensome.

“I was BORN A QUADRIPLEGIC. America has been forcing me to prove my disability every 6-12 months since 1982 to keep my Social Security, Medicaid, and SNAP,” Jewett wrote. “Fraud is under 3%! This will only create more work for everyone!”