The Case for Defunding SNAP Until Comprehensive Reforms Are Implemented

[DexWest]

The Prevalence of Abuse in SNAP

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program experiences significant levels of improper payments, which indicate waste and potential abuse within the system. For fiscal year 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that 11.7 percent of SNAP benefits, amounting to approximately 10.5 billion dollars, were improper based on 90.1 billion dollars in outlays excluding disaster benefits. 65 This improper payment rate increased from 11.5 percent in the prior year, highlighting ongoing issues in program oversight. 65 Retailer trafficking, where SNAP benefits are exchanged for cash instead of food, contributes to this problem, and recommendations to improve detection and penalties for such fraud remain unimplemented. 65 These facts demonstrate that SNAP is vulnerable to misuse, necessitating reforms to ensure benefits reach only those in genuine need without excessive waste.

SNAP Differs Fundamentally from WIC in Targeting and Structure

Unlike the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, which is specifically targeted to pregnant women, infants, and young children with prescribed nutritional items, SNAP provides general food assistance to a broad range of low-income households without subgroup restrictions. 71 WIC focuses on vulnerable populations with tailored benefits to promote health outcomes, while SNAP serves diverse groups, including 42 percent of participants aged 18 to 59 and 19 percent aged 60 or older in fiscal year 2023. 71 This lack of specificity in SNAP leads to less controlled distribution, as evidenced by its average monthly benefit of 187.20 dollars per participant in fiscal year 2024, compared to WIC’s more directed approach that limits items to essential foods. 71 The broader scope of SNAP increases the risk of inefficiencies not seen in WIC’s targeted model.

The Need for Lifetime Time Limits on SNAP Benefits

Current SNAP rules impose time limits only on able-bodied adults without dependents, restricting their benefits to three months in any 36-month period unless they work or participate in a work program for at least 20 hours per week. 67 Exemptions exist for children, seniors, veterans, homeless individuals, and others, but there are no overarching lifetime caps for all recipients, allowing indefinite participation for many. 67 This structure contrasts with the need for stricter limits to encourage self-sufficiency, as 28 percent of SNAP households had earned income in fiscal year 2023, suggesting potential for transition off the program over time. 71 Implementing lifetime time limits would align SNAP with principles of temporary assistance and reduce long-term dependency.

Requiring Reimbursement from Recipients Similar to Medicaid

Medicaid requires states to recover costs from the estates of deceased enrollees aged 55 or older for services like nursing facilities, home and community-based care, and related hospital and prescription drugs. 66 Recovery is prohibited if the enrollee is survived by a spouse, child under 21, or blind or disabled child of any age, and states must waive it in cases of undue hardship. 66 States may also recover from trusts or impose liens on property under specific conditions. 66 Applying a similar reimbursement mechanism to SNAP would ensure that benefits are repaid from estates when possible, promoting fiscal responsibility and mirroring Medicaid’s approach to recouping public investments in long-term support.

Eliminating Debit Cards to Curb Misuse and Theft

SNAP benefits are currently distributed via Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, which function like debit cards for purchasing eligible food at authorized stores. 67 This system has faced rising fraud, including card skimming that steals benefits, prompting modernization efforts such as the introduction of chip cards to enhance security. 68 Despite these updates, the debit-style format enables potential misuse, as seen in retailer trafficking issues. 65 Removing debit cards would prevent such vulnerabilities and ensure tighter control over how assistance is utilized.

Providing Benefits Exclusively as Government-Issued Meals in the Form of MREs

Government programs like operational rations demonstrate the feasibility of providing direct, pre-packaged meals instead of flexible benefits. Meals Ready-to-Eat are individually packaged for sustenance in military operations or humanitarian missions, with a case priced at 189.30 dollars, supporting controlled distribution in assistance contexts. 69 Limiting SNAP to three such meals per day would mirror the direct food provision in programs like The Emergency Food Assistance Program, which distributes commodities to low-income individuals through food banks, reducing opportunities for fraud compared to cash-equivalent systems. 52 This approach ensures nutritional adequacy while eliminating misuse associated with unrestricted purchasing.

Conclusion: Withhold Funding Until Comprehensive Reforms Are Enacted

Given the documented improper payments, lack of targeting compared to WIC, absence of lifetime limits, and vulnerabilities in the current debit card system, SNAP requires fundamental reforms before continued funding. Adopting reimbursement like Medicaid and shifting to direct meal provision via MREs would enhance accountability and efficiency. Until these changes are implemented, funding should be paused to prioritize taxpayer resources effectively.

References

U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2024). Improper Payments: USDA’s Oversight of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-107461
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. (2025). SNAP Eligibility. https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/recipient/eligibility
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Estate Recovery. https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/eligibility/estate-recovery
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. (2025). SNAP EBT Modernization. https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/ebt/modernization
Defense Logistics Agency. (n.d.). Operational Rations. https://www.dla.mil/Troop-Support/Subsistence/Operational-rations/
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. (2025). Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - Key Statistics and Research. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/key-statistics-and-research
Congressional Research Service. (2025). The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45408

[Tamera952]

If preventing fraud is the ultimate goal, then that SNAP program is not likely to be a hotbed of fraud. It has been an institution and funded since 1939. How about continuing it, so people can eat while auditing it for ‘fraud’? …. in the meantime, how about auditing the pentagon or defense spending? You want to talk about fraud? …. the pentagon loses more spare ‘change’ in their ‘couch’ thaen is needed to fund SNAP for years. How about private equity investments? Or crypto scams?
There’s a million more places to find potential fraud—but that’s not why they’re not funding it. Cruelty is the point. And it’s just remarkably cruel, and shameless, especially since we CAN afford it, and are rich enough to do so, and do I give a shit if somebody is not working but somehow getting 187$ fucking dollars a month to eat? NO, I don’t. It seems perverse and sick that Prez. Pedo is trying to ‘save money’ and fraud, when he is fucking over the most vulnerable and poor, while building Barbies Dreamhouse Ballroomand adding trillions to the national debt. It’s so SoSOOOO fucking sick.
It’s just the domestic version of them cutting USAID. They are fucking sick selfish demons.

[Anonymous]

Trump said if you can twerk you can work.

[Sal_Monella]

Although I am deep into Geezerdom, I'm getting by OK. But a lot of Old People I see are not. The idea of placing a monthly (?) order from the standard MRE menu makes a lot of sense. You pick (rounding) 100 meals for each eligible person and be done with it.

https://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Documents/TroopSupport/Subsistence/Rations/MRE/MRE45_Menu.pdf

This enables them (us) to eat more wholesomely and not even have to take our walkers to the (high priced) Publix to shop. We sign for the delivered package, store it and get back to our lives. We don't have to cook. We may need a few things around, like coffee fruit juice and bottled water plus the usual non-food staples, but this will make life a lot easier.

It would pretty much erase fraud because no money changes hands. Now if I want to sell 1 each menu 9, 17, 19, 21 and 23 or some such to buy paper towels or gin, I can. I think this is a terrific idea and would save the country millions or billions.

[msc545]

Impressive. If you wrote this yourself, I am doubly impressed, but even the fact that you found all this information is impressive. Unfortunately, I don't have the time or the energy to verify all of this, but let's just assume it's true.

That leads me to this question: If you were so concerned about fraud in this program, why are you not concerned about it in the program that pays defense contractors $1 trillion a year? That is a substantially bigger target for fraud than SNAP, and it would make more sense to look at fraud there, but somehow you guys are always silent on that because they are on your side, apparently. That's great for you. It's not great for the rest of us who have to pay, essentially, bribes to defense contractors. Where is your outrage concerning this? Are defense contractors in the Pentagon just automatically given a pass?

[snermcger]

I'll tell you this much. It was the best month at the grocery store since moving to this 'enriched' shthole.

Crowds were down by 75%. I assume most of the customers there were people with jobs. Something else I noticed. Not a lot of ginormous asses. People with jobs seem to have a better height to weight ratio. Also, it was whisper quiet. There were not 30 'kiieerds" running around (mostly in front of my cart) screeching with random items in their hands.

"ooooohhh you betuuh gier day gon tell mama... mama!!"

Please, permanently defund SNAP.

[Snakeyes7]

I am so tired of having programs that bait people into becoming reliant on the government instead of being able to govern themselves.

I would say just pull the plug already but you might be onto something with MREs. If you feed the beneficiaries with just them, many would want to get off them.

[contentious]

It should just be ended completely.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/5VjFMQcEfow

[goaded]

Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.

[DexWest]

That doesn’t dispute anything I asserted

[goaded]

It's an argument against defunding SNAP. So, I think most would say, is the fact that most of the recipients are children or elderly and most of the rest work and are simply not paid enough to feed and house themselves.

Here's a radical suggestion: instead of letting people starve while you work out your "comprehensive reforms", how about keep feeding them in the meantime?

Maybe don't hold Great Gatsby themed parties for obscenely rich people at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Well said. I agree 100%.