Just a day before SNAP funding is set to lapse, President Donald Trump’s Cabinet secretary in charge of food benefits launched a fierce attack on what she called the “extremely corrupt” program, arguing that “so many people are taking advantage” of food support.
The agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, spoke to reporters on Friday as millions of Americans face missing out on vital aid as a result of the ongoing government shutdown and a standoff between Republicans and Democrats.
As things stand, November’s benefits won’t be loaded on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program debit cards.
A “silver lining” of the looming benefits cliff is the chance to have a “national conversation on our SNAP program,” she argued.
“The problem is you have an extremely corrupt program,” she continued. “But up until this administration, and with President Trump’s direct focus on this and making sure every taxpayer dollar is spent appropriately, we’ve never really had the opportunity to dig in.”
She went on to suggest that food benefits would be reformed “to take that program back to its original intent of helping those who are truly needy” and to avoid having “a massive welfare benefit where so many people are taking advantage of it that shouldn’t be.” (Watch video below).
Attacking SNAP and demonizing benefit recipients is a favorite pastime of many on the right, stretching back to Ronald Reagan-era attacks on “welfare queens.”
On Thursday, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) accused some SNAP recipients of “smoking crack.”
In response to Rollins’ comments, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said, “Nutrition assistance is NOT corrupt. Food stamps kept my family fed when my mom had to look for work after my dad got sick with MS.”
“The Trump administration wants kids, seniors, and veterans to go hungry,” she added.
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It comes as a federal judge gave the Trump administration a Monday deadline to decide how it would pay for food benefits and criticized withholding funding.
https://x.com/RepClayHiggins/status/198399261874154