Sessions wants focus on food stamp eligibility in USDA probe

Senate Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) on Monday asked the Department of Agriculture for more details about its attempt to find fraud in the $89 billion federal food stamp program, and suggested that USDA try to curb eligibility requirements in order to cut spending. USDA announced in December that it was attempting to crack down on food stamp fraud by trying to prevent people from selling or exchanging their food stamps, through new rules and guidance to states on how the program is implemented.

"Lax oversight — arising in part from states having little incentive to control the flow of federal dollars — combined with a fast-growing budget and loosened eligibility, has likely led government officials to significantly underestimate the amount of fraud and abuse taking place," Sessions wrote in a letter to USDA.

Sessions said evidence that the eligibility for foods stamps under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could be seen in how the program has grown both during strong and weak economies.

"While the weak economy has increased the number of people on food stamps, spending on the program has dramatically outpaced the rise in unemployment," he wrote. "In just ten years the food stamp budget has quadrupled."

Sessions added, "Between 2001 and 2006, unemployment averaged around 5 percent but spending on food stamps actually doubled."

Sessions asked USDA to explain its oversight actions and its recommended reforms, and asked for a follow-up report after 60 days that details USDA's findings.