President Donald Trump’s administration is applying more pressure to Kansas and other states nationally that are refusing to turn over personal information about beneficiaries of the food-assistance program to the federal government.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has sent a formal warning to Kansas demanding the information within 30 days from receipt of the letter dated Aug. 20, raising the stakes in a showdown between Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and the Trump administration.
The letter says the federal government will withhold $10.4 million in funds used to administer the program for each quarter the Department for Children and Families doesn’t comply with the terms of the letter.
“This letter serves as a formal warning…to Kansas’s Department of Children and Families for failure to comply with requirements for providing SNAP enrollment data,” said the letter signed by former state Rep. Patrick Penn, now deputy undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services.
“Unless Department of Children and Families can demonstrate compliance by transmitting
the SNAP enrollment data for Kansas, (the agency) will initiate a disallowance of federal funding,” the letter said.
If DCF is unable to show it complied with the law, it has 30 days from receipt of the letter to submit a corrective action proposal the Trump administration agrees to accept.
A spokesperson for DCF said the agency is reviewing the letter.
The USDA said in the letter that it needs the enrollment information to ensure the integrity of the food-assistance program to protect how taxpayer dollars are spent.
It is unclear how the state would replace any money the federal government decides to withhold to administer the program, which serves about 188,000 Kansans a month including about 88,000 children.
A similar type of letter has been sent to at least 16 states, including Michigan, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin and Colorado.
In a similar letter, the Trump administration is threatening to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars from those states if they don’t provide the information.
The Kelly administration has been resolute against turning over the information, saying that state and federal law protect personal identifiable food-assistance data except when necessary for the administration of the food-assistance program.
Overall, the Trump administration is threatening to cut off more than $1 billion in funding to those 16 states if they don’t adhere to the government’s demand. California stands to lose the most at $338.3 million a quarter compared to $9.7 million for Maine.
Those states are challenging the Trump administration’s demands in federal court in San Fransisco.
Last week, those states and five others filed a motion trying to not only block the demand for the food-assistance information but to stop any efforts that could lead to cutting off funding for the program.
The plaintiffs laid out in court records just how broad the food-assistance program is.
In Maryland, the food-assistance program serves more feeds than 680,000 residents, including nearly 270,000 children. In Minnesota, the program serves about 440,000 people each month, including about 182,000 children.
This week, the plaintiff states filed a motion to expedite a hearing on their request for a stay or a preliminary injunction based on the fact that the Trump administration could cut off funding as early as Sept. 19 but before the original hearing date of Oct. 3.
A judge has now set oral arguments in the case for Sept. 16, although it’s unclear how any decision in the California judicial circuit would apply to Kansas.
The states argue in their lawsuit that the demand for information “appears to be part of the federal government’s well-publicized campaign to amass enormous troves of personal and private data, including information on taxpayers and Medicaid recipients, to advance goals that have nothing to do with combating waste, fraud, or abuse in federal benefit programs.”
In May, USDA notified the states that it was seeking the data to “ensure program integrity,” including by verifying the eligibility of benefit recipients.
The request for information was an outgrowth of an executive order signed by the president directing federal agencies to ensure the federal government has unfettered access to comprehensive data from all state programs that receive federal funds.
The agency is asking the states for records that identify applicants or recipients of food-assistance benefits, including names, dates of birth, personal addresses and Social Security numbers.
It also is seeking records to calculate the total dollar value of food-assistance benefits received by participants over time, with the ability to filter benefits received by date ranges.
DCF Secretary Laura Howard said the request places a “significant burden” on state resources, and it’s not something that can be done quickly.
She said providing the data could take months and be expensive. She estimated it could cost $100,000 to provide the data to the federal government.
The letter from USDA says the agency needs the data to ensure it has “full insight” in the integrity of the food-assistance program.
In the absence of data, the agency said it “lacks key information necessary to ensure effective stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
The USDA said it has already discovered from states that are complying with the data- sharing requirement that fraud or duplication in state distribution of federal funds has gone unreported and needs to be resolved.
The issue has taken on a political tone in Kansas, with House Speaker Dan Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson calling out the governor for not complying with the federal government’s demands for the information.
Hawkins and Masterson have cited the state’s payment error rate, which measures the accuracy of each state’s eligibility and benefit determinations for food assistance.
The error rate for Kansas was 9.98% for 2024, down from about 12% in 2023.
“Despite federal warnings and technical assistance, the administration has withheld critical data and ignored calls for efficiency,” said Masterson, a candidate for governor.
“This lack of transparency and follow-through is unacceptable,” he said. “I urge federal agencies to compel cooperation and will support investigations. Kansans demand accountability – action is needed now.”
Democrat state Sen. Cindy Holscher, also a candidate for governor, supported Kelly’s refusal to turn over the information.
“I have always fought for Kansans and the programs that help them provide for their families while facing a difficult economic situation,” Holscher said.
“I support Gov. Kelly’s decision not to turn over SNAP information to the federal government,” she said in an email.
“Ty Masterson is elevating this issue to further his own political career, and selling out Kansans’ privacy in the process.
Democratic Sen. Ethan Corson’s gubernatorial campaign did not comment for this story, although he’s had Kelly’s support in the Democratic primary.
Meanwhile, former Gov. Jeff Colyer also cited the food-assistance error rate in calling for the governor to turn over the information.
He said the error rate is higher now than it was when he was governor. It was 5.86% in 2018, federal data show.
“Instead of fixing Kansas’ rising SNAP error rate, this administration has stonewalled, ” Colyer said.
“Kansans are left vulnerable, with families paying the price while the governor’s team points fingers. That’s not leadership. Fix the errors. Stop the excuses.”
Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt, a Republican candidate for governor, summed it up this way: “When states accept federal dollars, they should expect federal oversight including data transparency and accountability.”
Secretary of State Scott Schwab took a different tone altogether.
He was just pressed by the federal government to supply personal voter data such as driver’s license numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers to the Justice Department.
Schwab ultimately agreed to provide publicly available voter data to the Justice Department and, for now, didn’t provide the personal information.
“When it comes to dealing with the federal government, my approach has been trust …. but verify,” Schwab said in a statement.
“The federal government should have a mechanism to hold states accountable just like a governor is supposed to on state dollars to local governments,” he said.
