SNAP Improper Payments Top $10 Billion Despite Trump's Anti-Waste Push
Summary
Improper payments in the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) totaled over $10 billion in Fiscal Year 2025, with an error rate of 10.62 percent. The Trump administration has introduced new rules to reduce these errors by holding states financially responsible if their error rates exceed 6 percent.Key Facts
- SNAP improper payment errors include both overpayments and underpayments to recipients.
- The error rate was 10.62 percent in Fiscal Year 2025, slightly lower than 10.93 percent in 2024 but still above the 6 percent threshold set by Congress.
- About 42 million low-income Americans receive SNAP benefits.
- Under President Trump's policies, states with error rates above 6 percent must cover part of the costs, ranging from 5 to 15 percent depending on the rate.
- This financial penalty for states will start applying on October 1, 2027.
- States must create plans to reduce errors and could face further penalties if errors persist.
- Errors occur due to both administrative mistakes (like data entry errors) and client mistakes (such as incorrect reporting of income).
- Alaska had the highest error rate at 23.15 percent in 2025, followed by New Mexico, Delaware, Georgia, Oregon, and Illinois.
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