During the recent government shutdown, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) also referred to as food stamps, ran out of money.
This topic caught the attention of conservative analyst who said this was a perfect time for the Trump administration to cut the waste and fraud inside the program.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), there are around 42 million Americans on food stamps and cost taxpayers $100 billion in fiscal year 2024.
Now the USDA wants to expose the fraud by having all food stamp recipients reapply.
The White House says by making this move, it can focus on the needy and stamp out the fraud of those that can work and don’t need to live off the government program.
Examples of food stamp fraud come from those purposely lying to SNAP benefits and individuals selling EBT cards for cash.
The USDA said there were 186,000 “deceased men and women and children that were receiving a check through the SNAP program.
Last year, Florida Daily reported about a new study from the Committee To Unleash Prosperity that showed after adjusting for inflation, food stamp spending was up 60% from 2019 and has tripled in real terms from the pre-Obama levels.
The report also detailed that more than 62% (using the United States Department of Agriculture USDA‘s own numbers) of those who receive food stamps are of working age and are able-bodied but choose not to work.
In 2001, 17.3 million were enrolled in the food stamp program. As of 2023, that number surged to just over 42. The cost to the taxpayer jumped from $31 billion (in inflation-adjusted terms) to $135 billion.
The federal government continues to make what it calls “improper payments” to individuals on food stamps.
The USDA has reported more than $45.75 billion of improper payments between FY 2003 and FY 2022.
Economist Steve Moore says that when the government shut down businesses in 2020 due to COVID-19, it allowed people to get on welfare and still hasn’t removed them from the rolls.
