Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s office said he isn’t cowed by the Trump administration’s threat to withhold federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) administrative funding from states, including Maryland, that refuse to turn over data on food assistance recipients.
Moore’s senior press secretary, Ammar Moussa, called the president’s ultimatum “reckless” and “cruel” in a statement Wednesday to The Baltimore Sun, warning that it could endanger families who rely on the program. He said that Maryland “will use every tool available — including legal action — to stop this administration from trying to starve families who rely on SNAP to survive.”
The resistance follows U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ widely reported criticism at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that “blue states” have refused to comply with the February request for recipient information, such as names and immigration status, which she said is needed to “root out the fraud” in the program. Rollins said 28 states and Guam — most led by Republican governors except North Carolina — have complied.
The Trump administration has signaled that states that do not comply by Dec. 8 could lose federal dollars used to run SNAP, potentially disrupting benefits for more than 690,000 Maryland residents.
The White House and the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not respond to requests for comment by the Sun’s deadline.
States and the federal government share the cost of administering SNAP, though the federal government pays the full cost of benefits. USDA officials have said only administrative funds would be withheld.
Rep. Andy Harris, the state’s sole Republican in Congress, told The Sun in a statement that, “Maryland should turn over the data on SNAP recipients to USDA so we can be sure that no one who is ineligible to get those hard-earned taxpayer dollars is receiving them. What is Maryland hiding?”
Democratic members of the congressional delegation stood behind Moore, however.
In a joint statement to The Sun, U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, and seven U.S. Representatives: Johnny Olszewski Jr. (2nd District), Sarah K. Elfreth (3rd District), Glenn F. Ivey (4th District), Steny H. Hoyer (5th District), April McClain Delaney (6th District), Kweisi Mfume (7th District) and Jamie Raskin (8th District), said:
“We are all committed to ensuring these funds go to the families who need them, and we support efforts by the state to ensure SNAP runs efficiently — but that’s not what the Trump Administration’s actions are really about. Despite this Administration’s attacks on working families, we’ll continue fighting to protect our communities in need and ensure Marylanders are able to feed themselves and their families.”
Rep. Kweisi Mfume, the ranking member on the House committee overseeing federal government operations, said separately that he supports efforts to address fraud, but he called the administration’s push “petty and outrageous.” The effort to build a federal database of food aid recipients is “unlawful” and diverts attention from rising costs of living, he said.
“We are all concerned about fraud, waste and abuse,” he told The Sun. “But for them to say that is to deflect attention… They are trying to weaponize their power against children, veterans, adults with disabilities and senior citizens.”
Maryland joined 21 other Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., earlier this year in suing the Trump administration over its request for sensitive SNAP recipient information. State attorneys general argued that states already verify eligibility, including by requiring participants to submit proof of income and conduct in-person interviews, and do not as a rule share large volumes of personal information with the federal government.
In October, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on the litigation.
Maryland’s SNAP Program in Numbers
A 2023 USDA review indicated that the “majority of SNAP benefits are used as intended.” Of the nation’s 261,770 SNAP applicants that year, 1,980 were disqualified, 561 were fined and 1,681 received warning letters for violations — roughly 1.6% of the total.
More than 693,000 Marylanders — about 11% of the state’s population — relied on SNAP benefits for food assistance in fiscal year 2024, a rate slightly below the national average. The average monthly benefit was about $180 per person, or roughly $6 per day.
Maryland’s SNAP error rate in fiscal year 2024 was just over 13%, including about 9% from overpayments and nearly 5% from underpayments, according to USDA data. The state’s rate exceeds the national average of nearly 11%. Payment errors can stem from agency mistakes, participant reporting issues or delayed updates to case files, and are not the same as fraud, waste or abuse.
About 70% of Maryland SNAP participants have incomes at or below the federal poverty line, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The remaining 30% have incomes above the poverty line but still qualify.
Because eligibility considers household size and allowable expenses such as rent, child care and medical costs, according to the Maryland Department of Human Services, it is often difficult to determine whether participants above the poverty line are engaging in fraud.
Historically, SNAP fraud in Maryland has involved retailers illegally exchanging SNAP benefits for cash and electronic benefits transfer (EBT) skimming or phishing scams.
A 2022 state audit found weak controls over EBT cards in some local social services offices and inconsistent investigations into potential eligibility or payment errors — vulnerabilities that could increase the risk of improper payments. The Office of Legislative Audits did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment on whether those issues have since been addressed.
Have a news tip? Contact Mennatalla Ibrahim at mibrahim@baltsun.com.
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