Justice Department Sues Minnesota to Force Release of SNAP Applicant Data
The Justice Department has sued Minnesota, seeking a court order that would force the state to provide five years of SNAP applicant data to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
DOJ said Friday that Minnesota, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Michigan refused to provide data USDA requested to review eligibility decisions, benefit levels and possible fraud in the food assistance program. The department said 28 other jurisdictions have already complied and that data from those states showed billions of dollars per year tied to overpayments and fraud.
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The lawsuit escalates a months-long fight over SNAP oversight, privacy and federal power. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison previously joined lawsuits challenging USDA’s data demands, arguing they could expose sensitive information on more than 400,000 Minnesota SNAP recipients and threaten about $1.4 billion in annual program funding.
Minnesota Republican lawmakers have pushed Gov. Tim Walz to comply, framing the dispute as a fraud-accountability issue.
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