WASHINGTON: The administration of US President Donald Trump will halt federal payments that help administer the food stamp program to Democratic-led states next week if they do not turn over aid recipient data, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
Democratic state and federal officials have resisted an effort by the US Department of Agriculture to collect data like immigration status and social security numbers of recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps, calling it an unlawful privacy violation. The USDA has said it will use the data to root out fraud.
“As of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply,” Rollins said at a Tuesday Cabinet meeting at the White House.
“If a state won’t share data on criminal use of SNAP benefits, it won’t get a dollar of federal SNAP administrative funding,” Rollins later posted on X.
While SNAP benefits are funded by the federal government, states administer the program and each maintain their own recipient records. The USDA and states split SNAP administrative costs. Trump’s fiscal legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” will eventually shift more of the administrative cost and some of the cost of benefits to states.
The Democratic governors of 22 states and the District of Columbia sued the USDA in July over the data demand. A federal judge ruled in October that the USDA could not deny SNAP funding to the states because of their failure to submit data.
The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Twenty-eight states have so far submitted the data to the USDA, according to a November letter sent from the agency to states and included in court filings.
Nearly 42 million Americans receive SNAP benefits.
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Trump to halt some food aid support for Democratic-led states over data fight
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Trump to halt some food aid support for Democratic-led states over data fight
- Twenty-eight states have so far submitted the data to the USDA, according to a November letter sent from the agency to states and included in court filings
Ethiopia demands Eritrea ‘immediately withdraw’ troops from its territory
- Relations between the two Horn of Africa countries have long been fraught
- In recent months, Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea of supporting insurgents on Ethiopian soil
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia has ordered neighboring Eritrea to “immediately withdraw its troops” from Ethiopian territory, accusing Asmara’s forces of an “incursion” and working with “rebel groups” along its northwestern border.
Relations between the two Horn of Africa countries have long been fraught. In recent months, Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea of supporting insurgents on Ethiopian soil — allegations Asmara denies.
“Developments over the last few days indicate that the Government of Eritrea has chosen the path of further escalation,” foreign minister Gedion Timothewos told his Eritrean counterpart in a letter dated Saturday.
He demanded that Asmara “withdraw its troops from Ethiopian territory and cease all forms of collaboration with rebel groups.”
These actions were “not just provocations but acts of outright aggression,” he said.
But he said that he believed the “cycle of violence and mistrust” could still be broken through diplomacy.
The Eritrean government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Eritrea, one of the world’s most closed countries, gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. They fought a devastating border war from 1998 to 2000 which claimed tens of thousands of lives.
The two governments cooperated against rebels from Ethiopia’s Tigray region during the 2020-2022 conflict, but fell out over the peace accord, from which Eritrea was excluded.
Relations between the two Horn of Africa countries have long been fraught. In recent months, Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea of supporting insurgents on Ethiopian soil — allegations Asmara denies.
“Developments over the last few days indicate that the Government of Eritrea has chosen the path of further escalation,” foreign minister Gedion Timothewos told his Eritrean counterpart in a letter dated Saturday.
He demanded that Asmara “withdraw its troops from Ethiopian territory and cease all forms of collaboration with rebel groups.”
These actions were “not just provocations but acts of outright aggression,” he said.
But he said that he believed the “cycle of violence and mistrust” could still be broken through diplomacy.
The Eritrean government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Eritrea, one of the world’s most closed countries, gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. They fought a devastating border war from 1998 to 2000 which claimed tens of thousands of lives.
The two governments cooperated against rebels from Ethiopia’s Tigray region during the 2020-2022 conflict, but fell out over the peace accord, from which Eritrea was excluded.
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