Politics
Our political journalists are based in the Maine State House and have deep source networks across the partisan spectrum in communities all over the state. Their coverage aims to cut through major debates and probe how officials make decisions. Read more Politics coverage here.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Maine should be “transparent” with data on food stamp recipients and their immigration status but expected a threat from President Donald Trump’s administration to withhold aid to states over the issue to be blocked in court.
The president initially asked states earlier in the year to provide the data on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Most Republican-led states did so. Maine was among the 21 Democratic-led states that partnered on a lawsuit that prompted a judge in California to put a temporary hold on the move in September.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins brought the food aid program that supports 1 in 8 Americans, or about 42 million people, back into the spotlight during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday when she said the administration will start next week to block SNAP benefits from going to the Democratic-controlled states if they do not cooperate with the data request.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesperson clarified later Tuesday that the threat applies to administrative funds for SNAP that go to the Democratic-led states rather than benefits. Rollins said the data are needed due to “rampant fraud,” though the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service said in a factsheet citing fiscal year 2023 data that the majority of benefits are used as intended.
Collins issued a statement Wednesday that cut two ways. The top Senate appropriator said she is “glad that this food aid is not currently at risk.” Her suggestion for the state is notable given that Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, is running in a primary for the right to unseat Collins in 2026.
“Regarding these administrative funds, I expect any efforts to withhold them to be held up in court,” Collins said. “In the meantime, I would also encourage the state to be transparent with the data the administration has requested to prevent waste, fraud or misuse of these taxpayer-funded benefits that help so many American families.”
North Carolina is reportedly the only state with a Democratic governor that has handed over the information. States fighting the request have said they verify SNAP eligibility and never share large swaths of sensitive data. Though most noncitizens are ineligible for SNAP, Maine is among the states that provide aid to certain immigrants, such as asylees with specific hardships.
Democratic leaders in Maine, including Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey, condemned Tuesday’s threat. U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a 2nd District Democrat, had not responded to requests for comment as of Tuesday afternoon.
“The governor and attorney general will stand in the way of this cruel and callous attempt by President Trump to cause Maine people to go hungry,” Mills spokesperson Ben Goodman said.
Full Plates Full Potential, a nonprofit focused on ending childhood hunger in Maine, said the USDA’s threat would apply to nearly $6.6 million that Maine receives annually to help operate the low-income food assistance program, or roughly half of the total costs for the state where recipients are also facing new work requirements added under Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“Food should never be a political football or a surveillance tool,” Full Plates Full Potential said in a statement.
The average monthly SNAP benefit is roughly $190 per person, or about $6 a day. About 170,000 Mainers, or 12.5% of the state’s population, receive SNAP benefits, including more than 59,000 children and more than 40,000 older adults. The Trump administration sought to halt the benefits in November while the longest-ever government shutdown dragged on, but court battles complicated that before Congress passed a stopgap bill to end the impasse.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a 1st District Democrat, questioned the legality of the Trump administration’s intended move while the lawsuit involving multiple states is pending. Pingree said in an interview Tuesday that “however you describe it, you’re talking about trying to deny hungry people food.”
“It’s just the height of cruelty,” Pingree said.
