WASHINGTON D.C. – In a powerful demonstration of America First principles in action, the Trump administration moved nearly six million people off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in just a year and a half, aggressively targeting the rampant fraud that ballooned under previous administrations.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, speaking on “The Alex Marlow Show,” unveiled the extensive efforts of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to clean up what she called a program rife with abuse, highlighting a stark contrast with the Biden era’s expansion of welfare dependency.
Rollins zeroed in on SNAP, commonly known as the food stamp program, declaring, "Well, we have the SNAP program, right? The food, the food stamp program, and you talk about fraud!" She noted that similar investigations across housing, Medicaid, and Medicare programs were revealing widespread fraud as well.
A major hurdle, Rollins explained, is that SNAP, while "a fully federally funded program," often operates with a severe lack of accountability as the federal government simply "hand[s] that money over to the states." The consequences were predictable and costly.
Under the last administration, "The spending on that program went up 40 percent under the last administration under Biden, which is crazy," Rollins stated, emphasizing how "more and more people got on food stamps." The lax oversight was particularly egregious.
"There was no checking of whether, you know, they were working or trying to find a job," Rollins continued. "There was no checking on their means. There was no checking on whether they’re driving Lexuses or, you know, Range Rovers, which a lot of them are." It’s a sobering indictment of a system that seemingly encouraged dependency and abuse.
Upon taking office, Secretary Rollins made accountability a top priority. "The first day I walked in and sent a letter to every governor and said, ‘We’ve got to change this. This is not red or blue. We’ve got to work together and uncover,"' she recounted. "The American taxpayer just is owed better, as are the families that really need this program that is being stolen."
Her appeal resonated, with all Republican-led states quickly joining the initiative. Encouragingly, some Democratic governors also stepped up as "great partners" in the fight against fraud.
The USDA’s investigations swiftly uncovered shocking abuses, including a staggering "250,000 people that are using dead people’s social security numbers in one state alone." Beyond identity theft, Rollins revealed that "hundreds of fancy cars" were associated with names receiving SNAP benefits – a clear sign of systemic exploitation. "But we have gotten, we have been able to root out so much already," she affirmed.
To intensify the crackdown, Rollins strategically reassigned the high-performing team originally tasked with downsizing the USDA workforce. "I took the Doge team, the Elon team that came into USDA to help us rightsize, and we did," she said. "We shrunk USDA by 20,000 employees about a year and a half ago. Once that work finished, I pivoted them to this work, and what they have been able to find and uncover is remarkable."
The results speak for themselves. "We have now, Alex, moved almost 6 million people off of SNAP in just a year and a half," Rollins proudly announced, detailing the reduction from 43-44 million recipients to approximately 35-36 million.
This aggressive, common-sense approach epitomizes President Trump’s commitment to restoring integrity and fairness to federal programs. As Rollins concluded, this is about "welfare to work, no more illegal aliens, and no more fraud. I mean, this is what the president promised the people." It’s a powerful reminder that accountability, fiscal responsibility, and the unwavering pursuit of America First principles are not just slogans, but actionable policies that deliver real results for the American taxpayer.
