Sen. Ernst Introduces Bill To End Blue States’ Fast-Food SNAP Abuse
Sen. Ernst introduced a bill that seeks to cut off a SNAP loophole that's allowed users to spend benefits at fast-food restaurant chains.Sen. Ernst introduced a bill that seeks to cut off a SNAP loophole that's allowed users to spend benefits at fast-food restaurant chains.Trump admin drops hammer on SNAP scammers after finding 186K dead people collecting benefits
The Trump administration has plans to root out fraud in the country's food stamp program.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides benefits to approximately 42 million Americans, costing about $100 billion in the fiscal year 2024.
'Secretary Rollins wants to ensure the fraud, waste, and incessant abuse of SNAP ends.'
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Thursday that the administration will require Americans receiving food stamps through SNAP to reapply.
Rollins told Newsmax that this effort would "make sure that everyone that's taking a taxpayer-funded benefit … that they literally are vulnerable and they can't survive without it."
Rollins explained that she sent letters to every state, requesting data on SNAP benefits. She noted that 29 states, primarily those led by Republicans, responded to the request.
She stated that "186,000 deceased men and women and children in this country are receiving a check."
RELATED: Supreme Court rules in favor of Trump administration to extend pause in SNAP funding
"That is what we're really going to start clamping down on. Half a million are getting two [payments]," Rollins said, noting that this included data from only 29 states.
"Can you imagine when we get our hands on the blue-state data what we're gonna find?" she added.
"It's going to give us a platform and a trajectory to fundamentally rebuild this program," Rollins continued.
The secretary described one instance in which an individual used the same Social Security number to obtain EBT cards in six states.
She noted that President Donald Trump has made cracking down on SNAP fraud a priority, adding that 120 arrests have already been made.
It is not yet clear when beneficiaries will be required to reapply for the benefits.
"Secretary Rollins wants to ensure the fraud, waste, and incessant abuse of SNAP ends," a USDA spokesperson told The Hill. "Rates of fraud were only previously assumed, and President Trump is doing something about it. Using standard recertification processes for households is a part of that work. As well as ongoing analysis of State data, further regulatory work, and improved collaboration with States."
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Trump admin agrees to partially fund food stamps as Democrat shutdown approaches record
President Donald Trump's administration will partially foot the bill for the food assistance program SNAP as the government shutdown rages on.
Key government programs like SNAP officially lapsed over the weekend after Democrats voted over a dozen times throughout October against reopening the government. As the shutdown inches toward a record-breaking length, the Trump administration has agreed to partially fund SNAP benefits.
'There’s a new sheriff in town.'
Two federal judges ruled on Friday that the Trump administration needs to spend a $5.25 billion emergency fund before officially cutting off SNAP. This will only cover about half of the $9 billion spent per month on SNAP benefits.
The judges also said the Department of Agriculture could move around its funds to supplement SNAP for the month of November, but the Trump administration will likely refrain, calling it an “unacceptable risk.”
RELATED: Democrat-induced shutdown poised to break record as key programs lapse
“Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funds are not a contingency fund for SNAP,” Patrick Penn, who oversees the SNAP program at the USDA, wrote Monday.
“Using billions of dollars from Child Nutrition for SNAP would leave an unprecedented gap in Child Nutrition funding that Congress has never had to fill with annual appropriations, and USDA cannot predict what Congress will do under these circumstances,” Penn added.
Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is also seizing the opportunity to comb through SNAP recipients to ensure that only Americans and not illegal aliens are receiving the taxpayer-funded benefits.
RELATED: Trump urges Senate to deploy the 'Nuclear Option' on filibuster
"On my first day [at USDA,] we told every state to send us their SNAP data so we could make sure illegal immigrants aren’t getting benefits meant for American families," Rollins said. "29 states stepped up. 21 blue states refused — and two SUED US FOR ASKING! And guess what? In just the states that cooperated, we’ve already uncovered massive fraud."
"The Democrat Party has turned its back on working Americans and built its entire strategy around protecting illegal aliens," Rollins added. "They know if the handouts stop, those illegals will go back home, and Democrats will lose 20+ seats after the next census. There’s a new sheriff in town. [President Trump] will not tolerate waste, fraud, or abuse while hardworking Americans go hungry."
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Trump can’t let Reagan’s greatest mistake become his legacy
Charlie Kirk reported this week that President Trump faces growing pressure from GOP donors to cut a bipartisan deal offering amnesty to illegal aliens working in agriculture and hospitality. The donor class has long hated Trump and especially his supporters’ demand for real border security and immigration enforcement.
Big business pushing for cheap labor isn’t surprising. What’s alarming is Trump echoing their rhetoric.
What was effectively Ronald Reagan’s 1986 amnesty doomed California. It transformed a red stronghold into the Democrats’ electoral anchor. Trump can’t afford to make the same mistake.
Donald Trump says a lot of things. Anyone who gets emotionally exasperated at any single statement will start to look like a hysterical journalist. Salena Zito’s sage advice — “Take Trump seriously, not literally” — still applies. He might joke about annexing Canada, but those lines rarely lead to action.
At the same time, Trump takes public opinion seriously. He gauges crowd response and often walks back proposals that don't land. That makes it important to push back on bad ideas without losing perspective.
Trust the plan — but verify the plan regularly.
Kirk understands this. That’s why he’s mobilized opposition now to any amnesty deal, real or imagined. He wouldn’t act unless he sensed real movement inside the swamp. Corporate America has tolerated immigration enforcement as long as it targeted gang members and drug dealers. But when Immigration and Customs Enforcement started raiding farms and hotels, the donor class panicked.
Suddenly, Trump began repeating talking points from Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins about farmers and hotel owners losing their “best workers.” He promised to help them get the labor they need. His administration quietly issued guidance exempting farms and hotels from immigration raids.
The online backlash came fast — and fierce. The administration reversed course and rescinded the exemptions.
But Trump didn’t quite drop the issue. He kept talking about farmers’ need for labor. In the wake of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which delivered major funding for border security, Beltway insiders started floating a pivot: tack back to the center and strike a deal.
That whisper campaign likely prompted Kirk to sound the alarm.
Special carve-outs for illegal labor would betray MAGA’s core promise. Maybe 10 years ago, building a wall and deporting the worst offenders would have been enough. But after eight million illegal aliens surged across the border under Biden’s illegitimate regime, the situation changed. Democrats intentionally flooded the country to shift its demographics and tilt elections. If we don’t reverse that flood, they win.
RELATED: Where the left gets its rage against borders
After Kirk’s warning, Rollins re-emerged to promise that mass deportations would continue. The base cheered. But she added that future enforcement would be more “strategic” — a telling hedge. Trump followed up by insisting he opposed amnesty, then immediately floated a new “worker program” to help farmers. That language did not reassure.
The United States already has legal guest worker programs. Farms that ignore them and hire illegal aliens are breaking the law. They don’t deserve special treatment. They deserve prosecution.
The truth is, letting illegal aliens stay and rewarding them with American jobs is amnesty. Redefining the term won’t change that.
Conservatives have heard this pitch before. At this point, it’s almost comical. Every “immigration reform” ends the same way: Illegal aliens stay, and the floodgates reopen. It starts with the workers, then families follow. Chain migration becomes mass migration.
Trump was elected because he promised to break this cycle. He built his legacy on tough immigration policies — mass deportations, the wall, an America First agenda. To flirt with a Reagan-style amnesty now would be an incredible betrayal.
What was effectively Ronald Reagan’s 1986 amnesty doomed California. It transformed a red stronghold into the Democrats’ electoral anchor. Trump can’t afford to make the same mistake.
He must shut down this talk — shut down Rollins especially — and remember why voters chose him over the establishment in the first place. The donor class got Trump wrong in 2016. If he listens to its members now, they’ll take him — and the country — down with them.
Trump Admins Ends Taxpayer Subsidies For Illegal Aliens
The wide-ranging move ends a nearly 30-year period of government incentivizing illegal immigration by allowing illegals to benefit from programs meant for Americans.Trump Promises ‘No Amnesty’ For Illegal Alien Agricultural Workers
Some farm owners and industry representatives have been pressuring the administration to stop the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations of workers.Agriculture secretary unveils plan to stop China’s farmland grab, bio-material smuggling threats
The Trump administration is moving to prevent foreign adversaries from owning farmland in the United States, following reports that foreign entities own nearly 45 million acres of agricultural land.
During a Tuesday morning press conference, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the National Farm Security Action Plan, a multi-agency effort to protect America's food supply by banning foreign rivals, including Chinese entities, from purchasing farmland in the U.S.
'We are working to issue regulatory action to remove over 550 entities from foreign countries of concern from our preferred catalog.'
Rollins was joined at the press briefing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.
"American agriculture is not just about feeding our families but about protecting our nation and standing up to foreign adversaries who are buying our farmland, stealing our research, and creating dangerous vulnerabilities in the very systems that sustain us," Rollins stated.
The action plan includes "seven critical areas," as outlined on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's website. These areas focus on increasing transparency and imposing stricter penalties for foreign ownership of farmland. Additionally, it emphasizes redirecting domestic investments to strengthen supply chain resilience, combating foreign crime syndicates and biological threats, safeguarding research, and ensuring the USDA aligns with the administration's America First agenda.
The USDA aims to partner with state leaders and members of Congress to swiftly implement executive action and legislation to prevent "countries of concern or other foreign adversaries" from purchasing farmland.
RELATED: From Wuhan to Michigan: Feds nab ANOTHER Chinese scholar in alleged bio-material smuggling plot
Rollins stated that the Trump administration would use presidential authorities to "claw back what has already been purchased by China and other foreign adversaries."
She noted that she signed a memo on Tuesday, canceling USDA-affiliated contracts or research arrangements with 70 citizens from countries of concern.
Rollins added, "We are working to issue regulatory action to remove over 550 entities from foreign countries of concern from our preferred catalog."
The agency will roll out an online portal for those in the agricultural industry to "report possible false or failed reporting and compliance with respect to [the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act]."
As of December 2023, nearly 45 million acres of agricultural land are owned by foreign countries, including hundreds of thousands of acres by Chinese entities, according to a report by AFIDA.
Another top goal of the administration's action plan is to address biological material threats. This follows reports in June that federal authorities arrested multiple Chinese nationals who allegedly attempted to smuggle biological material into the United States.
During Tuesday's press conference, Bondi stated that two of the individuals allegedly involved in the schemes had ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
"It's going to stop. FBI has opened over 100 bio-smuggling investigations in recent years," Bondi said.
She also stated that the administration is cracking down on pesticide trafficking across the southern border, noting that "illegal and highly toxic chemicals from Mexico were smuggled into the U.S."
"The Department of Justice is prioritizing the arrest of those illegal aliens doing it," Bondi added.
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