President Donald Trump’s anti-fraud efforts have brought renewed focus on issues plaguing the welfare system, including the millions of dollars in food stamps that are being sent to dead recipients.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a report last month stating that 185,986 deceased people in 29 states were receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as of July 1, 2025, at an annual cost of $419.6 million. It also reported an additional $3 billion in potential fraud, waste, and abuse.
On May 21, a federal jury convicted a man who stole the identity of Carlos Ramon Obregon, who was killed in a 1977 Los Angeles drive-by shooting. Decades after the 14-year-old’s death, the defendant used the dead teen’s identity to collect about $283,000 in government benefits, including SNAP benefits, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, and COVID-19 payments.
That’s just one example that the administration has outlined to highlight the issue. Here’s what to know about the problem of dead recipients, which has been lingering for decades.
Renewed Focus by Trump Admin
Trump directed federal agencies via executive order in March 2025 to ensure “unfettered access” to data from federally funded state programs such as SNAP, also known as food stamps.
In response, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service told state agencies on May 6, 2025, that all records associated with SNAP must be made available to the federal government.
“For years, this program has been on autopilot, with no USDA insight into real-time data,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote in a letter to states.
Following the USDA’s demand for detailed information on food stamp recipients to review for fraud, a coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia filed a federal lawsuit against the USDA, accusing the agency of unlawfully demanding massive amounts of sensitive SNAP recipient data.
Hellbound and Down 