Hobbs: I won't hand over Arizona SNAP data despite USDA threat to withhold funds

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs says she won’t give in to the Trump administration’s threat to withhold SNAP funding unless states hand over data about the program’s recipients.

Arizona is one of more than 20 states who have so far refused to share data the Department of Agriculture said it will use to root out fraud.

The resisting states filed a lawsuit in July, arguing that turning over that information would violate privacy laws.

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in October, blocking USDA from withholding funds, but the department’s threats to withhold persist.

Hobbs accused the Trump administration of using vulnerable people’s benefits to get leverage.

“He [Trump] is politicizing people who need assistance the most, and that is wrong, and I will continue to fight them to ensure that Arizonans can get the benefits that they need and are entitled to,” Hobbs said. “He has continued to politicize this issue and I'm going to stand up for the privacy of Arizonans' data.”

She also pushed back on the USDA’s comments about massive fraud in the SNAP program.

“I dispute that wholeheartedly,” she said. “In FY23, our cases that involved fraud were less than one-tenth of 1% in Arizona, and we’re doing everything we can to ensure that people who receive benefits are eligible to receive them. There’s a lengthy process that applicants go through including checking immigration status.”

More than 850,000 Arizonans are on SNAP.

Hobbs said she’ll continue fighting the Trump administration in court and, as of Wednesday, she wasn’t sure her office had officially received any USDA communication yet.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins gave states a deadline of Monday to respond to their request.