Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had some pointed words for states that benefit from federal welfare funds but refuse to root out those defrauding these programs.
During a Tuesday Cabinet meeting, Rollins announced that her department would cut federal funding to states that fail to share data regarding their SNAP programs to help the Trump administration stop fraud.
“In February of this year, we asked for all the states for the first time to turn over their data to the federal government, to let the USDA partner with them to root out this fraud, to make sure that those who really need food stamps are getting them, but also to ensure that the American taxpayer is protected,” Rollins explained.
She continued, noting that “29 states said yes, not surprisingly, the red states, and that's where all of that data, that fraud comes from,” but that “21 states, including California, New York, and Minnesota, the blue states, continue to say no.”
The secretary announced that starting next week, her agency “will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply, and they tell us and allow us to partner with them to root out this fraud and to protect the American taxpayer.”
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins threatens to cut off federal funding for states that do not share data related to food stamp fraud.
— Jeff Charles, Asker of Questions🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) December 2, 2025
"We have begun...to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply" pic.twitter.com/ihEhHYbiQO
Rollins also highlighted the Trump administration’s progress on getting people off of welfare programs. She noted that about “800,000 of those 42 million [welfare recipients] have moved off of food stamps.”
She further noted that her agency found 186,000 deceased people were still receiving benefits, and about 500,000 were receiving benefits more than twice.
🚨 BREAKING: Sec. Brooke Rollins just confirmed they got a whopping 800,000 THOUSAND people off SNAP, eliminating huge amounts of fraud
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 2, 2025
FINALLY!
"So much rampant fraud...800K of 42M have moved off of food stamps! We found 186K dead people, 500K receiving DOUBLE benefits! Some… pic.twitter.com/5ofx7FGqU1
Since taking office, Rollins has initiated sweeping reforms aimed at addressing fraud within the SNAP program.
States like Minnesota have been a center point for discussions about welfare fraud. The Treasury Department announced on Monday that it was launching an investigation into the state’s alleged mishandling of these programs, which enabled fraudsters to funnel millions of taxpayer dollars to a terrorist group in Somalia.