January 1, Trump Team Blocks Food Stamps Over Fraud Concerns

Wyatt’s Take

• The Trump administration will cut SNAP funds to 21 Democrat-run states and D.C. for refusing to share key data.
• Agriculture Secretary Rollins says only Republican states handed over information on recipients and immigration status.
• More than 20 million SNAP users are in those Democrat states, raising big questions about fraud and accountability.

The Trump administration announced it will halt food stamp funding to 21 Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C., because they refuse to provide information about SNAP recipients. Republican-controlled states gave data like names and immigration statuses, but Democrat officials have not cooperated.

“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,” Rollins said at the White House.

Over 20 million people on food stamps live in these Democrat-led states—nearly half of all recipients. The Trump administration says this lack of transparency invites waste, fraud, and abuse.

Democrat-led states filed a lawsuit, saying the data request breaks privacy laws, arguing against tracking people who use the program. That lawsuit tries to block efforts to ensure that only eligible Americans get help and not illegal immigrants or those gaming the system.

The USDA pointed out that SNAP and other welfare programs are often abused, with recipients sometimes buying loads of junk food that don’t support nutrition or the program’s real mission.

“President Trump has made it a priority to ensure that the availability of public benefits does not encourage or reward illegal immigration into the United States. Consistent with this priority, USCIS officers are reminded that they must strictly adhere to the statutes, regulations, and USCIS policy when making inadmissibility determinations, including under the public charge ground,” the memo states. “Aliens subject to the public charge ground of inadmissibility must demonstrate that they are not likely at any time to become a public charge.”

Statistics show that 59 percent of illegal immigrant households use at least one welfare program, compared to 52 percent for legal immigrant households and 39 percent for native-born families.

The administration says stricter rules and data sharing are needed to protect the taxpayer and make sure benefits help the truly needy, not serve as a magnet for fraud or illegal immigration.

Some folks have even bragged during shutdowns about stealing food or abusing SNAP if payments dry up, showing just how deep entitlement runs in parts of the culture.

Corporate media and politicians keep spinning this as hurting hungry Americans, but the reality is about enforcing laws and stopping abuse.

Read more at The Federalist

Wyatt Matters

Honest folks in Middle America work hard and want their tax dollars spent wisely, not handed out to fraudsters or people who break the law. Keeping welfare programs accountable means more help gets to people who truly need it and less government waste for everyone else.