DOJ accuses 4 states of refusing to provide SNAP data to federal officials
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, accusing the states of refusing to provide the U.S. Department of Agriculture with data on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program applicants.
The DOJ says the data was collected to ensure states properly enforced "their determinations of residents' eligibility for SNAP, including household benefit levels." The agency alleges that the USDA requested the last five years of SNAP applicant data from several states last year. After dozens complied, federal officials claimed the USDA requested the data again from the four states in May 2026.
The Trump administration claims that SNAP is losing billions of dollars due to fraud, waste and abuse. On June 24, the USDA said the program's payment error rate was 10.6% for fiscal year 2025, resulting in $10.1 billion in improper payments nationwide.
The DOJ is now seeking an injunction requiring the four states to turn over the data, claiming that failure to comply "creates the likelihood of ongoing, material waste, fraud, and abuse going undetected."
"The American people deserve a government that is transparent about how it spends their hard-earned tax dollars," said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. "These four states are thwarting USDA's efforts to ensure that the billions of dollars in SNAP benefits they distribute every year are not lost to fraud. It's unacceptable, suspicious, and it will not stand under this Administration."
"For nearly 365 days, several States have shamelessly defied federal law and withheld data to which the U.S. Department of Agriculture is entitled," said USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins. "USDA has worked constructively with the majority of States to ensure criminals, fraudulent activity, and other waste, no longer plague a program meant to serve the most vulnerable households and communities among us.
"Today, I asked the Acting Attorney General to compel Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Michigan to comply with federal law. If a State misguidedly stands between the federal government and the information needed to protect the generosity of the American taxpayer, the Trump Administration will take them to court."
CBS News Detroit reached out to the departments in each state that oversee SNAP and is awaiting responses from Kentucky, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families issued the following statement:
The USDA has already tried to force states to turn over SNAP recipient data, and those efforts have been temporarily blocked in federal court. DCYF continues to meet the USDA's regular data reporting requirements, which are not impacted by that court order.
This latest lawsuit appears to be seeking the same information covered by the preliminary injunction already ordered by a federal court. DCYF defers to the Minnesota Attorney General's Office for comment on pending litigation. USDA's demand for this volume of data is unprecedented, threatens the privacy of millions of families, and ignores long-standing restrictions on the use and redisclosure of SNAP data.
