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Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins went on Fox & Friends Weekend and didn’t mince words, calling the SNAP program “bloated” and “corrupt” after her department’s probe turned up what she described as massive abuse. For hardworking Americans who pay the bills, it is infuriating but finally refreshing to see someone in Washington actually name the problem and refuse to look the other way.
The USDA ordered states earlier this year to hand over five years of SNAP recipient data so the federal government could root out fraud and duplicate enrollments, and dozens of red states complied while many blue states refused and even sued to block the request. That refusal to cooperate reads like political theater designed to protect voters rather than protect taxpayers, and it’s small wonder conservatives are demanding accountability.
Rollins has said that, in the states that did cooperate, investigators uncovered staggering problems — from individuals collecting benefits in multiple states to thousands of cases of ineligible use, roughly 700,000 people removed from rolls since this administration took office, and more than a hundred arrests tied to trafficking and fraud. Those figures, while contested by some, are precisely the kind of wake-up call Americans needed to see that this program has been abused on a grand scale.
The administration’s push for a national data check isn’t about cruelty; it’s about fairness — ensuring benefits go to the truly needy and not to fraudsters or people here illegally. Even as judges have tussled with the USDA and federal courts ordered temporary relief for millions amid funding fights, the underlying issue remains: how long will Washington tolerate systems that funnel taxpayer money into wasteful and unlawful channels?
Make no mistake, the political operatives in blue-run states who sued to hide this data are choosing optics over outcomes, protecting an exploitative status quo that punishes honest Americans and rewards lawbreaking. If we believe in the rule of law and stewardship of taxpayer dollars, then refusing to share simple eligibility information is indefensible.
Conservatives should champion aggressive, common-sense reforms: mandatory cross-state data matching, tougher identity verification, work and training requirements for able-bodied adults, and swift prosecution of fraud rings that traffic benefits. These aren’t radical ideas; they’re basic accountability measures that restore the program’s original purpose — a temporary safety net, not a permanent entitlement racket.
Americans must demand that their representatives stop playing politics with people’s livelihoods and start defending taxpayers and vulnerable families alike. Secretary Rollins has opened the door; now Congress and state leaders must walk through it and deliver the reforms that hardworking citizens expect and deserve.
