• Agriculture secretary says millions will be told to reapply for SNAP benefits
• Critics warn fraud claims are overstated and rules already require frequent recertification
• Push comes amid major federal cuts and political pressure to show crackdown on “waste”
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says the Trump administration will require millions of low-income Americans to reapply for food stamps as part of a sweeping effort to crack down on alleged program “fraud.”
Rollins told Newsmax on Thursday that she intends to “have everyone reapply for their benefits,” saying the goal is to ensure that every person receiving a taxpayer-funded SNAP benefit “literally [is] vulnerable and … can’t survive without it.” She offered no timeline or details on how the reapplication process would work.
SNAP under renewed political scrutiny
Her comments come amid heightened attention to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which serves nearly 42 million people and cost about $100 billion in fiscal year 2024. Funding lapses during the recent government shutdown fueled conservative criticism of the program’s reach and cost — including from President Donald Trump.
While fraud can involve participants misrepresenting income, retailers trading benefits for cash, or criminals skimming EBT cards, anti-hunger advocates argue the problem is far smaller than the administration claims. The average SNAP benefit is roughly $6 per day, they note, and participants must already report changes in income and recertify as often as every six months under state rules.
New oversight push includes data demands
Rollins has signaled a broader SNAP overhaul in the coming weeks. She has already directed states to submit sensitive participant data, including Social Security numbers — a request that is now being challenged in court.
On Thursday, she said preliminary data from 29 states show 186,000 deceased individuals are “receiving a check” through SNAP, an assertion likely to intensify the administration’s claims of systemwide waste. Checks aren't used in the SNAP program. Recipients get their funds on a debit card.
Cuts and work rules reshape the program
The push arrives after months of negotiations over federal spending and the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July, which enacted a $186 billion cut to SNAP along with stricter work requirements and tighter eligibility rules. Officials have framed the changes as part of a larger effort to reduce government spending through the DOGE initiative.
Trump this week reiterated his view that SNAP enrollment is too high. “People keep talking about SNAP. But SNAP is supposed to be if you’re down and out,” he said on Fox News, according to Politico. While stressing that people who truly need assistance should receive it, he argued that “able-bodied” individuals sometimes leave work because benefits are “easier,” adding, “That’s not the purpose of it.”