A searing report from the Massachusetts state auditor revealed an egregious $2 million in fraudulently funded state benefits, including a significant amount of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds that were overpaid to welfare recipients by the blue state’s government, a discovery that preceded widespread calls for SNAP reform across the U.S.
For context, according to a report released by the Massachusetts Bureau of Special Investigations on March 21, 2025, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, upon investigating “fraud, abuse, and illegal acts” that involved the state’s distribution of public assistance benefits, found a total of $2,041,723 in fraudulent payments between six state agencies — primarily SNAP.
Furthermore, in the report, Auditor DiZoglio explained that the Bureau of Special Investigations had found cases of fraudulent payments within the records of SNAP, Medicaid, Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC), the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children (EAEDC), and Personal Care Attendant (PCA) services. Based on the report, the overwhelming majority of fraudulent payments — $1,239,688 — came from SNAP.
Responding to the discovery of the fraudulent payments, Auditor Digloglio said that public benefits fraud “impacts the lives of everyday people across the Commonwealth who depend on these programs and services to purchase food or access care.” She added, “That’s why the work of our fraud examiners is critical to help ensure these programs and services are operating efficiently and reliably for everyone who needs them.”
The discovery of millions in fraudulent welfare payments came shortly before the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, publicly stated on May 20, 2025 that SNAP was filled with “fraud and abuse and corruption” during a public policy event hosted by Breitbart News. Furthermore, Secretary Rollins later said that the Trump Administration is “on track to sign multiples of SNAP waivers to get junk food and sugary drinks out of our food stamp system.”
Echoing Secretary Rollins’ sentiments, several states have proposed legislation that, if passed, would exclude “junk food” and soda from the list of SNAP-eligible foods. According to coverage from Newsweek, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that she is pursuing “a SNAP Waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service that would support fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and protein and prohibit using SNAP for junk food.”
Similarly, Montana’s Sen. Daniel Zolnikov (R) is reportedly sponsoring a SNAP reform bill, telling the press, “I am against the endless marketing to parents and our children that processed food and drinks is (sic) the equivalent to that of produce, fruits, and meat.” Likewise, Utah’s Sen. Mike Lee (R) has proposed a SNAP reform bill in his state as well, arguing that “American tax dollars should not be used to pay for junk food and endanger the health of the most vulnerable Americans.”
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Furthermore, Secretary Rollins said that the USDA is “working to change” the way SNAP funds are handled to avoid what she had previously called “fraud and abuse and corruption,” saying, “There’s just a lot of work that we need to do. That fact—that we’re just handing out all of this money without any sort of requirement of work for able-bodied, grown adults—is sort of insane to me.”
Watch local coverage of the report:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video