WASHINGTON (TNND) — Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Wednesday that nearly $10 billion was found in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program fraud, and 1,000 arrests were made.
“Within a year and a half, we have found billions of dollars, we’re reaching $10 billion soon, and we’ve made 1,000 arrests,” Rollins told NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich, The Hill reported.
Rollins noted that every Republican governor has cooperated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s fraud crackdown, compared to only two Democratic governors.
On Tuesday, Rollins said the USDA’s eligibility changes to SNAP are cleaning up the program, which has been rife with an “astounding” amount of fraud that Democratic and Republican administrations have overlooked.
“From my perspective, making sure that we’re targeting those who really need the program, and who really just not deserve the program, but need it as a leg up as a supplemental nutrition program as they’re working toward a better, high-paying job and the opportunity to not be on those programs,” Rollins said, regarding her goals in addressing fraud.
“That’s what we’re focused on,” she added. “And I think we’re making a lot of progress.”
More than 20 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., have sued the USDA over its changes to SNAP eligibility. These changes include the addition of work requirements, which were codified under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Trump signed into law last July.
Work requirements for SNAP recipients and removal of certain exemptions resulted in at least 3.5 million people losing access to benefits by February of this year, according to BenefitsUSA.
Vice President JD Vance has been overseeing an anti-fraud task force, which has homed in on SNAP, a program that is federally funded and administered by individual states.