Millions of Americans who rely on SNAP benefits each month to cover food costs may soon have to reapply to receive benefits.
In an interview with Fox Business, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients will have to reapply for benefits in an effort to prevent fraud.
“SNAP is a broken program. SNAP is rife with corruption,” she told CNN.
SNAP provides monthly benefits — averaging about $190 per person — to about 42 million people nationwide.
The move could put recipients in a situation where many people have not received November benefits due to the longest U.S. government shutdown, forcing families to wait in lines to receive aid from other organizations.
Rollins claimed that 186,000 deceased men and women were receiving benefits and 500,000 people were receiving SNAP benefits twice under the same name.
“The Democrats’ shutdown gave us the platform to completely deconstruct SNAP to make sure those vulnerable Americans who really need this benefit get it … it also protects taxpayers,” Rollins told Fox.
Figures from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicate that more than 226,000 fraudulent benefit applications and more than 691,000 fraudulent transactions have been approved, Fox News reported.
“Data from just 29 states revealed nearly 200,000 people with dead people’s Social Security numbers…Meanwhile, 21 states are suing to keep their data hidden. Why block transparency if the truth isn’t worse than the headlines?” Rollins asked in a post on X.
Agriculture Secretary Says It’s Time to Clean Up SNAP
“This is exactly what happens when a massive program runs on outdated lists and zero accountability.”
Rollins claimed that a 40% increase in recipients occurred under the Biden administration.
Earlier last month, Rollins said investigators found thousands and thousands of illegal uses of the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card.
However, it remains unclear when the re-application process will begin.
An Agriculture Department spokesman did not elaborate, but instead said in a statement that standard recertification processes for households are part of a plan to eliminate fraud, abuse and waste, the AP reported.
