The Trump administration says SNAP is rife with fraud and waste. Is it?
Summary
The Trump administration reported that the food stamp program SNAP had a high error rate of 10.6% in 2025, which they say shows waste and fraud. Experts and anti-hunger groups say most errors are unintentional mistakes, not deliberate fraud, and that focusing on fraud could hurt low-income families relying on the program.Key Facts
- SNAP is a government program that provides food assistance to low-income families.
- In 2025, SNAP had a payment error rate of 10.6%, meaning over $10 billion in payments were incorrect.
- The acceptable error rate threshold set by Congress is 6%.
- Payment errors include both overpayments and underpayments and are often unintentional.
- Fraud involves deliberately breaking rules, like selling benefits for cash or stealing card information.
- The current error rate does not fully capture fraud cases like card skimming or fake enrollments.
- Experts say errors happen due to complicated rules, changes in recipients’ finances, and paperwork problems.
- Recipients must repay any overpayments, usually by reducing future benefits until the amount is recovered.
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