A shocking new report confirms that the federal food stamp program (SNAP) is riddled with fraud and abuse, costing American taxpayers billions. An analysis found that over 5,000 liquor and smoke shops are currently approved retailers under the program. This massive loophole increases the likelihood of fraud and misuse of government assistance.
The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) warned these stores “become hotbeds of fraud.” Benefit cards are often illegally bought, sold, or swapped for prohibited items like alcohol and tobacco. Kristi Stahr, Senior Data Analyst at FGA, said these high-risk stores are ripe targets for scammers.
Michael Greibrok, Senior Research Fellow at FGA, stated, “Food stamps are meant to provide supplemental nutrition for vulnerable populations. Letting smoke shops and liquor stores cash in on the program is not the safety net taxpayers envisioned and only funnels assistance away from the truly needy.”
The data shows Democrats are responsible for enabling this abuse. Half of all liquor and smoke shops were approved as SNAP vendors during the four years of the previous administration. FGA found that more than 70% of all food stamp traffickers are these types of convenience stores.
The costs of this corruption are staggering. The SNAP program budget has ballooned from $17.1 billion in 2000 to an estimated $100 billion in 2025.
The Trump administration is attempting to clean up the mess and eliminate waste. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins proposed major reforms to increase nutritional value and eliminate loopholes for junk food.
But Democrats are fighting the cleanup effort in court. Rollins asked all states to share their SNAP data to uncover “massive fraud,” but over 20 states refused to comply.
California, the state with the greatest number of recipients and the highest concentration of high-risk retailers, led the lawsuit against the Trump administration. They were joined by other Democrat-controlled states like New Jersey, New York, and Illinois. A District Court issued a temporary order blocking the administration’s efforts to crack down on fraud.
The Trump administration has been forced to mandate that all recipients reapply to the program to verify eligibility. This is a crucial step to crack down on fraud when Democrat-led states actively obstruct justice and protect the corrupt system.