United States Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C. 20250
May 6, 2025
Dear State Agency Directors,
On March 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14243, Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos. Among myriad important directives, this Executive Order required agency heads to “take all necessary steps, to the maximum extent consistent with law, to ensure the Federal Government has unfettered access to comprehensive data from all state programs that receive federal funding, including, as appropriate, data generated by those programs but maintained in third-party databases.” The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is committed to effectuating this Executive Order with respect to all programs in its purview.
The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) at USDA plays a key role in providing nutrition services to Americans in need through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or the program). SNAP, which is federally funded, is administered by the states, districts, and territories through partnerships with FNS and several payment processors.
This distributed administration takes advantage of our federal system to enable states to meet the needs of their residents. However, as explained in the President’s Executive Order, USDA must retain “unfettered access to comprehensive data” from federally funded programs like SNAP even if such data is “maintained in third-party databases.” This is the only way to eliminate “bureaucratic duplication and inefficiency” and enhance “the Government’s ability to detect overpayments and fraud.”
At present, each state, district, territory, and payment processor is a SNAP information silo. These various entities maintain discrete collections of SNAP application, enrollment, recipient, and transaction data, each of which is necessary in ensuring the integrity of the program. Thus, pursuant to the President’s Executive Order and to confirm that SNAP is being administered appropriately and lawfully, USDA and FNS are working to eliminate these information silos.
7 USC 2020(a)(3) and (e)(8)(A) and 7 CFR 272.1(c)(1) and (e) authorize USDA and FNS to obtain SNAP data from state agencies and, by extension, their contractors. FNS is therefore working with several SNAP payment processors to consolidate SNAP data. If they have not yet done so, your processors may reach out to you to provide notice of this partnership and data sharing.
FNS will use the data it receives from processors to ensure program integrity, including by verifying the eligibility of benefit recipients. This is consistent with FNS’s statutory authority and the President’s Executive Order and will ensure Americans in need receive assistance, while at the same time safeguarding taxpayer dollars from abuse. Upon completion of its analysis, and to the extent necessary, FNS will follow up with state agencies regarding next steps.
Additionally, pursuant to, among other authorities, the President’s Executive Order, 5 USC 553(a)(2), 7 USC 2020(a)(3), and 7 CFR 272.1(e), USDA is taking steps to require all states to work through their processors to submit at least the following data to FNS, as applicable:
- Records sufficient to identify individuals as applicants for, or recipients of, SNAP benefits, including but not limited to personally identifiable information in the form of names, dates of birth, personal addresses used, and Social Security numbers.
- Records sufficient to calculate the total dollar value of SNAP benefits received by participants over time, with the ability to filter benefits received by date ranges.
Requested data will cover the period beginning Jan. 1, 2020, through present. Please contact me at gina.brand@usda.gov with any questions related to this data sharing request.
Failure to grant processor authorizations or to take the steps necessary to provide SNAP data to FNS may trigger noncompliance procedures codified at 7 USC 2020(g).
Thank you for your continued work to help address the needs of vulnerable Americans and safeguard taxpayer dollars.
Sincerely,
Gina Brand
Senior Policy Advisor for Integrity
United States Department of Agriculture
Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services