The administration has threatened to withhold benefits from Kentucky, and other Democrat-led states, if they decline to share the names and immigration status of SNAP recipients with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Tuesday the administration needs the data to root out fraud. Opponents, like Beshear, say sharing that data is a breach of privacy.
He said the issue had already been settled legally. A group of 22 states and Washington, D.C. challenged the administration’s request, which was originally made in February. A federal court in San Francisco blocked the Trump administration from collecting that data in September. Beshear said the new request would violate the ruling.
“We've won this before, and we'll win it again, but this is one more example of how the Trump administration is willing to let people starve for political purposes. It's just wrong. They ought to knock it off,” he said.
Beshear indicated he’d go back to court if the administration follows through with withholding benefits.
“The Trump administration has a ruling saying they cannot cut off benefits because states don't provide personal information that the federal government is not entitled to,” Beshear said.
States have until Monday, Dec. 8 to respond to the USDA’s request for SNAP recipient data. Around 600,000 Kentuckians receive SNAP benefits.
