USDA to Withhold SNAP Funds from 22 States Over Data

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Tuesday that it will withhold federal administrative funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, from 22 states starting next week unless they provide detailed data on program recipients. The move targets states that have refused to share information including Social Security numbers, birth dates, home addresses and immigration status, which the department says is needed to combat fraud.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins issued the warning during a White House Cabinet meeting. "In February of this year, we asked 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," Rollins said. "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."

The non-compliant states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,...