US Made Over $10 Billion in Improper SNAP Payments in FY 2025

The US gave out over $10 billion in improper Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments in fiscal year 2025, according to data released on June 24 by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Details: The rate of "improper" payments, which include both over and underpayments, came in at roughly 10.6%, above the 6% threshold previously set by Congress. The error rate is down marginally from 2024 and 1% from 2023. The highest error rates were observed in Alaska, DC, New Mexico, Delaware – all over 15%. The national average was around 9.3%. The USDA describes improper payments as "largely unintentional."

Upcoming Changes: Currently, states do not contribute money to the actual assistance, and the federal government covers 100% of the costs and 50% of the states' administrative expenses. In fiscal year 2025, the US spent $101.7 on SNAP. On October 1, the beginning of fiscal year 2027, states will be responsible for 75% of their administrative costs and pay more based on their error rate.

Related Storylines: On June 26, the Department of Justice filed lawsuits against Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Minnesota for not supplying their SNAP data and requested injunctions that would require them to turn in their past five years of data. Townhall (Right) published news coverage that argued the "noncompliance creates the likelihood of ongoing, material waste, fraud, and abuse going undetected." The day after the data was published, The Center Square (Lean Right) reported that Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), introduced two bills to combat "widespread fraud." The Cato Institute (Lean Right) noted in an analysis that SNAP and Medicaid accounted for a combined $47 billion in improper payments in 2025.

How The Media Covered It: The USDA's 2025 figures were covered by a handful of outlets from the right, but not widely across the spectrum. AllSides found coverage from The Center Square, Townhall, The Cato Institute, The New York Post (Right), Breitbart (Right), The Epoch Times (Lean Right), and Newsweek (Center). Newsweek's coverage stood out in that it said the improper payments happened "despite Trump's anti-waste push" in its headline. AllSides did not find coverage from the left.

Another Report: A June 17 report from ProPublica (Lean Left) claimed that since changes made in last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, across the 12 states that publish age statistics, "at least 776,000" children are no longer receiving SNAP benefits. ProPublica based its analysis on a previous analysis from the self-described "nonpartisan" think tank, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. When asked by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said most people kicked off the program were committing fraud and that "the 700,000 number of children is not correct." The National Desk (Right) published a fact check in response to ProPublica's report that chalked the debate about the figures up to the fact that the Department of Agriculture has not published detailed nationwide statistics yet. Monty Donohew of American Thinker (Right) noted documented instances of SNAP fraud and argued, "Real compassion measures results, not raw enrollment numbers."

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