Exclusive | House DOGE chairman demands answers from Dem govs refusing to share SNAP data: Billions in potential fraud

Rep.Tim Burchett, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), demanded explanations Wednesday from five Democratic governors who have refused to share state data related to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that could reveal large-scale fraud. Govs.

Kathy Hochul of New York, Gavin Newsom of California, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania each received letters from the House DOGE subcommittee chairman requesting documents and communications related to their withholding of data “necessary for ensuring the integrity of the federally funded SNAP program.” The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) notified all 50 states last month that they are required to share data related to their SNAP disbursements over fraud concerns. The $100 billion federal program allows states to provide monthly funds to low-income individuals and families to purchase eligible groceries.New York, California, Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania are the states with the largest SNAP populations that have failed to provide the requested data to USDA. The department has already identified “at least $3 billion in potential waste, fraud and abuse” in the 29 states that have complied with data demand, according to Burchett (R-Tenn.). “USDA would likely be able to identify billions more in potential fraud if non-complying states, including New York, which is among the states with the largest number of SNAP beneficiaries, were to step up and constructively participate in this effort,” Burchett wrote in his letter to Hochul, obtained by The Post. “Your state’s noncompliance carries a great cost to the American public,” he added. A spokesperson for Hochul told The Post that “any allegation that New York is unlawfully withholding data is patently false.”“New York takes its oversight of SNAP seriously and remains committed to providing eligible New Yorkers with ...