The head of the US Department of Agriculture has announced that the Trump administration plans to require “everyone” receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to reapply. This decision follows a probe into several Republican-led states that reportedly uncovered 186,000 cases of fraud.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins claimed that fraud is widespread within the embattled SNAP program. She alleged, “186,000 deceased men and women and children in this country are receiving a check” in 29 red states alone. Speaking on Newsmax’s *Rob Schmitt Tonight*, Rollins asked, “Can you imagine when we get our hands on the blue state data what we’re going to find?”
She added, “It’s going to give us a platform and a trajectory to fundamentally rebuild this program, have everyone reapply for their benefit, make sure that everyone that’s taking a taxpayer-funded benefit through SNAP or food stamps, that they literally are vulnerable, and they can’t survive without it.”
The agriculture secretary did not specify when or how the reapplication process would take place. The USDA has yet to respond to requests for further comment.
Currently, state SNAP administrators require recipients to recertify their information as often as every six months. Families must keep their income and personal information up to date to maintain benefits. Despite this ongoing recertification process, Rollins labeled the program as “corrupt.”
She referenced a recent crackdown in Ohio where 120 Americans were arrested for SNAP fraud, stemming from an 11-month investigation into 17,000 illegal transactions involving SNAP benefits.
“These are the things that we’re uncovering that, for years, no one has really ever dug into because the feds didn’t have the system in place to do it. But we do now,” Rollins told Newsmax. “The president has made this a priority. We will fix this program.”
Rollins’ crackdown follows disruptions in SNAP benefits after the Trump administration ordered states not to make full food stamp payments for November as the government shutdown ended.
SNAP currently serves nearly 42 million Americans, with benefits costing the federal government roughly $100 billion in 2024, according to the USDA.
Despite the turmoil caused by the shutdown, Rollins assured that SNAP recipients are expected to receive their full benefits by Monday.
https://nypost.com/2025/11/16/us-news/usda-chief-says-everyone-will-have-to-reapply-for-snap-benefits-after-claiming-rampant-fraud/
