Rollins Moves 4.3 Million Off SNAP as Illinois Snap Benefit Changes Spread
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the government had moved 4.3 million Americans off the food stamp program as Illinois snap benefit changes and broader federal SNAP rules took effect. Preliminary Agriculture Department data show SNAP beneficiaries fell by nearly 4.3 million from January 2025 to January 2026.
Rollins said the reduction came from fraud, people who should not have been using the program and a better economy.
Rollins on SNAP Drop
“As of just a couple of days ago, we now have moved 4.3 million Americans off of the food stamp program. A lot of that is fraud. A lot of it is people taking the program that shouldn’t have been. And a lot of it is just a better economy. We’ve had wage growth that has outpaced inflation for the first time since early 2021. This is a really big day. So people don’t need food stamps,” Rollins said this week.
Two food insecurity researchers pushed back on that explanation. Roger Figueroa, a Cornell University assistant professor who studies food insecurity, said, “What we’ve seen in terms of the data is that the trend in participation declines seems to be related to the program being harder to access.”
New SNAP Requirements
Experts said the decline tracks new requirements in a tax and spending cut bill passed by Republicans last summer. The bill is projected to cut $186 billion in federal spending from SNAP over 10 years, equal to 20% of federal SNAP spending over that period.
The difference between the administration’s explanation and the researchers’ reading of the data is narrow but important. Rollins attributed the drop largely to fraud and economic gains, while Caitlin Caspi, a University of Connecticut associate professor who studies food insecurity, said, “I don’t see any evidence supporting a significant reduction in fraud as a driver of what we’re seeing as far as declining SNAP participation.”
Fraud Data in 2023
Financial year 2023 data show 41,476 people were disqualified from SNAP for fraud, fewer than 1% of the total 42,176,946 SNAP participants. The Agriculture Department directed reporting to broad-based categorical eligibility, which can make SNAP applicants in most states eligible if they qualify for non-cash benefits from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or similar state-run efforts.
For families and individuals who rely on SNAP, the practical question is whether they still meet the new access rules, not whether the program’s enrollment total is falling. The new requirements are the change affecting eligibility, and the 4.3 million decline shows how quickly participation can move once those rules tighten.
