US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said last week that 14,000 SNAP recipients owned luxury vehicles including Ferraris, Bentleys and Teslas, as the Trump administration stepped up its attack on the food aid program. [1]
The claim drew criticism from lawmakers and others who said the administration had not provided evidence or verified the details behind the allegation. [1]
The USDA runs SNAP, a $57bn program that supports tens of millions of low-income Americans. [1]
The Foundation for Government Accountability said its conclusions came from 2023 data obtained by an unnamed contractor from an anonymous state, but the source did not identify which state supplied the information. [1]
Congresswoman Jahana Hayes said she was highly skeptical of the data and argued that fraud claims are often made without evidence. “First of all, if it were true, it would have been cited with the state and what happened,” she said. [1]
Hayes also said, “I just don’t buy the Secretary saying that they have all this information as a gotcha moment, while not also simultaneously saying we plan to hold these people accountable for defrauding the system and taking food away from the people who really need it.” [1]
She added, “I never thought it was about abuse. I never thought it was about fraud. It’s about taking food away from hungry people.” [1]
