Follow the Fraud: These States Are Still Stonewalling SNAP Transparency

You can’t find free food fraud if you don’t look for it.

With millions of Americans outraged over billions of dollars of fraud uncovered in various government programs, one might think government leaders would be eager to eradicate any remaining fraud under their control. But no. Not in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Minnesota, Michigan, or 18 other states and the District of Columbia.

These states keep refusing to share the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) data the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requested a year ago. Sharing data is central to finding fraud, so we can only conclude they don't care how our tax payments are spent.

Last year, a coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia refused to provide the requested data and asked a federal court to block the Trump administration from obtaining it, citing privacy concerns. In February, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Trump administration could not cut off SNAP funding to uncooperative states. 

While that court case continues, the Trump administration has begun filing cases in individual states—starting with Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Michigan—seeking an injunction to compel their compliance. It is likely more cases will be filed if the administration prevails in these test cases. 

And now, because of a new federal penalty, every state will have to do better at combating SNAP fraud—or pay for being too far out of compliance.

Billions Wasted

SNAP is so riddled with fraud that in May 2025, USDA formed the SNAP Program Integrity Data Team to analyze data provided from all states with readily available federal databases.

Data received from 29 states showed an estimated $3 billion a year in federal SNAP funds is spent on potential fraud, waste, and abuse, according to a May 13 USDA report.

Based on the scope of the fraud, USDA again asked the noncompliant states to provide their SNAP data.

"To date, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Michigan have yet to comply," a USDA spokesperson told Restoration News in an email. "It is unfortunate these States, and several others, continue to prioritize criminals and other bad actors rather than the beneficiaries of this program and the taxpayers funding it. The Department of Agriculture has estimated more than $3 billion in participant fraud from the data analysis conducted last year, and just two weeks ago, issued the payment error rate, which shows more than $10 billion in benefit waste."

On June 26, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins asked Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to compel the four states to comply with federal law. "If a State misguidedly stands between the federal government and the information needed to protect the generosity of the American taxpayer, the Trump Administration will take them to court," Rollins said in a statement.

Still no movement.

In fiscal year 2025, USDA funded $95.7 billion in SNAP benefits and $5.4 billion in state agency administrative costs, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) court filing. The department attempted to obtain the SNAP data from non-compliant states, yet some states refuse to account for how they spend federal tax dollars.

Restoration News asked the governors' offices in those four states to explain why they won't share the data. Only Pennsylvania answered.

"The Shapiro Administration is committed to protecting Pennsylvanians' private, personal information and has a responsibility to ensure it is not being misused," Gov. Josh Shapiro's (D) spokeswoman, Rosie Lapowsky, replied in an email. 

"Governor Josh Shapiro has made fighting public assistance fraud a cornerstone of his career in public service," Lapowsky continued, "and his Administration has strict guidelines in place to ensure taxpayer money is used for its intended purpose across Commonwealth programs and initiatives—even as the Trump Administration has cut federal funding to protect against fraud."

Shapiro's office says the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services "already reviews every SNAP application in a thorough review process."

The USDA says the state is not doing a good job. 

"The Department appreciates the Commonwealth's talking points, however, facts do matter," a USDA spokesperson told Restoration News in an email. "Since April 01, the Commonwealth has disqualified only 46 individuals, when over 2,800 had misrepresented circumstances at eligibility determination. The Commonwealth's own claims data shows State employees are allowing households to commit fraud by establishing instances of program abuse as 'errors' rather than intentional program violations. It seems the thorough review process could use additional eyes and further technical assistance from the Food and Nutrition Administration."

Lapowsky said Pennsylvania offered to provide the data "as long as the USDA guarantees it will not be used for unauthorized purposes. So far, they have not agreed to do so."

It looks like mistrust, but it's really just politics. Perhaps Pennsylvania needs the USDA to pinky-swear that it won't misuse the data, since the issue has already been addressed. 

USDA's May report mentions privacy 134 times and spells out how the data will be used. "Only data elements necessary to achieve specific, legally permissible goals, such as fraud detection, duplicate enrollment prevention, and program integrity checks, were collected and used," the report notes. "The scope of data collection was limited to excluding sensitive personally identifying information unless directly relevant to these goals." 

Shapiro was one of the governors who refused to participate in the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington—another example where politics got in the way of Shapiro doing the right thing. Celebrating America and fighting fraud should be non-partisan no-brainers.

To Pennsylvania's credit, the state joined—more than a year after the USDA launched it—the SNAP National Accuracy Clearinghouse, meant to prevent SNAP recipients from receiving benefits in multiple states. Not all states participate in this program.

How to Cheat SNAP

Using 2025 data, the May 2026 report identified six primary categories of SNAP fraud and the number of cases discovered among the 29 states that provided data. All hinge on Social Security numbers (SSN):

"The findings indicate that even small error rates can translate into substantial fiscal impact when applied across large caseloads, underscoring the importance of strengthened data-matching and eligibility verification controls," the report noted.

Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Michigan taxpayers, and those in all noncompliant states, should demand their leaders provide the data needed to stop similar fraud in their own states.

Every State's Problem

USDA recently released the annual SNAP "payment error rates" report. Congress set the threshold for errors at 6 percent. This gives states a little wiggle room for errors in case they overpay or underpay recipients.

The national payment error rate for fiscal year 2025 is 10.62 percent. A state's payment error rate is figured by adding the percentages of SNAP overpayments and underpayments. For example, the worst offender, Alaska, overpaid SNAP to some households, amounting to 20.58 percent. It underpaid other households by 2.57 percent. Together, those percentages add up to a 23.15 percent payment error rate. Check out your state here.

The payment error rate used to be nothing more than interesting data. Now, careless spending will cost states their own money.

Currently, USDA money flows to states, which then administer the SNAP program under federal law and regulations. This offers states some flexibility. The states then issue SNAP benefits to families who meet the eligibility criteria. So, it is a federally funded program.

For the first time, starting in October 2027, states with payment error rates over 6 percent will have to pay for excessive errors using state funds. Error rates over the 6 percent threshold will cost states 5 percent, 10 percent, or 15 percent of the total benefits the state pays to SNAP recipients. The higher the error rate, the higher the percentage. This penalty was written into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Virgin Islands and nine states have payment error rates under 6 percent: Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Wyoming, and South Dakota, which has the lowest at 2.47 percent.

Hunger for Fraud

Any suggestion of cutting SNAP funds is met with cries that people will starve. But the bloated SNAP program has been rife with fraud for decades. In addition to the legitimately needy, who should be helped, every county has recipients who are cheating the system. But fraud doesn't stop with recipients.

"State Agencies have engaged in intentional fraud and abuse of SNAP," DOJ court filings show.

A former California state agency eligibility worker pleaded guilty in 2026 to aggravated identity theft for stealing the identities of household members and fraudulently obtaining SNAP benefits in their names for almost three years. Using the county databases accessed through her job, she took identifying information of noncitizens, the elderly, and the dead, and secretly approved them to receive or continue receiving SNAP benefits. The employee printed EBT cards in their names, put money on the cards, and spent the money on herself and her family members.

"In other cases, USDA has identified State Agency employees engaged in apparent program abuse and disregard for their statutory duties," the court filings note. "In a video-recorded training for its SNAP eligibility workers, the Program Manager for Minnesota's State Agency admitted that 'fraud has never been a big focus for me' while also acknowledging that fraud '[e]xists in government from top to bottom.' The training instructed State officials responsible for SNAP eligibility determinations and fraud referrals to consider 'why' someone has violated SNAP."

Between school breakfast, lunch, afterschool, and summer feeding programs; the milk program; the free USDA Senior Food Box program for folks over 60; senior farmers' market nutrition program; Women Infant and Children (WIC) food and formula program; extra SNAP money for kids in the summer; Indian reservation food; the Emergency Food Assistance program; the SNAP program; plus regional food banks; local food shelves; soup kitchens; church meals; and the kindness of neighbors, no one can say Americans would intentionally let someone starve.

USDA is rightly asking for accountability. Those resistant to sharing information enable fraud. They are the ones keeping nutritional resources out of the hands of hungry people.

The May USDA report, embedded below, lists the number of SNAP recipients in each state as of June 2025.

FROM THE FRONTLINES:

    BETH BRELJE: If Socialists Are For the Working Class, Why Are They Coming For Your Paycheck?

    EDUCATIONAL WARFARE: K-12 Schools Infiltrated by Marxist Extremists and Foreign Influence

    ELECTION INTEGRITY: States Are Drawing the Blinds on Voter Transparency—That's a Problem

    CULTURE WAR: A Silent Civil War Has Begun—And Blue States Are Winning

We need your help to save America—chip in today.

Restoration News, a project of Restoration of America, is your trusted investigative news source for the America First movement. As a rapidly growing conservative news site, we focus on delivering accurate and insightful exposés on political news, immigration news, leftist lies, and other pressing issues affecting everyday Americans. Our uncompromising commitment to a hard-hitting, fact-based, America First, and faithful perspective ensures that you receive news that aligns with your values. 

Every dollar gets us closer to winning the war on woke.