Mass. Reps. Moulton, McGovern slam Trump for federal SNAP cuts amid flurry of fraud

Tim Dunn, Boston Herald on Feb 19, 2026

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Massachusetts Congressmen Seth Moulton and Jim McGovern blasted President Trump on federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) during a press conference Thursday as Massachusetts has seen a flurry of recent fraud schemes uncovered and just days after the Herald published a whistleblower’s account of “rampant” fraud in the program.

“Wages are not going up and families are struggling more than ever. Hunger and food and security is getting worse in this country. And it’s getting worse because we have a guy in the White House and a leadership in Congress that is making it worse,” McGovern said at a press conference following his tour of the facility with Moulton.

“Nearly 100,000 people in this state are at risk of losing food assistance because this President and House Republicans passed their big ugly bill. And when they did that, they stole nearly $200 billion, billion with a B, dollars in food assistance. The largest cut to food assistance ever in American history,” he said.

Moulton joined McGovern, making a short speech also bashing Trump for the cuts to federal SNAP funding before abruptly leaving the press conference early for an unknown reason. Before the event, Moulton’s staff said he would be available for questions from the press.

“Jim mentioned that there are 40 million Americans who depend on food assistance today. Let me share another number: $400 million. That’s the cost of the new White House ballroom that Trump wants to build because that’s his priority as opposed to feeding American families,” said Moulton. “As long as Trump is in charge in the White House and his MAGA Republican enablers in the Congress do his bidding, a lot more families will starve.”

The press conference comes just days after the Herald detailed a whistleblower’s account of “rampant” fraud in the state’s SNAP-EBT program and a lackluster response to combating fraud in the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). It also follows multiple SNAP and other public benefits fraud busts by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the state Auditor’s Office.

When asked by the Herald if Gov. Maura Healey should turn over information on Massachusetts SNAP recipients to the Trump Administration and USDA in order to root out waste, fraud and abuse, McGovern said no.

“I wouldn’t trust the Trump administration to tell me the correct time. And by the way, let me just say in terms of fraud, the SNAP program compared to other federal programs has a very low fraud rate. And the good news is that to the extent that there is fraud, it is being called out,” McGovern said.

“I wish the Department of Defense had this kind of scrutiny. But it doesn’t. Look, this is an important program, and already people in the Commonwealth and around the country are losing their benefits because of the new work requirements and the new red tape that they put into place,” he said.

The governor continues to refuse to turn over the information, saying the administration has not assured her office the data will be turned over to ICE.

When asked if the federal government should be subsidizing the fraud the state is not addressing, McGovern snapped back, claiming the feds are not subsidizing losses to fraud in the SNAP program, going on to defend the efforts of Healey, state and federal lawmakers to combat SNAP fraud.

“Are you suggesting that a $200 billion cut to a program that provides people an average of two dollars per person, per meal, that somehow that’s where we should go to find savings? Again, we have a hunger problem in this country, and we have, unfortunately, a hunger problem in Massachusetts that the governor and the state legislature and that our mayors and the federal delegation are trying to address,” said McGovern. “But, please, don’t tell me that SNAP is the poster child for fraud. That’s just not the case.”

The state Auditor’s Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) has identified over $34 million public benefits fraud in FY23, FY24 and FY25, with SNAP representing the largest share of fraud in each year. BSI also reported that 82.9% of all referrals processed by the office in FY24 involved SNAP, while 78% of referrals processed in FY25 involved SNAP.

The BSI has also found that in FY23, FY24, and FY25, a significant share of the detected fraud was tied to DTA programs. In FY23, a whopping 69% of identified fraud was tied to DTA programs, totaling $8.49 million. The figure dropped,but was still high in FY24, with DTA programs tied to 59% of identified fraud, good for $6.02 million. In FY25, identified fraud tied to DTA programs dropped again, yet still remained high, making up 49% or $4.95 million.

In December, the Feds busted a $7 million SNAP fraud scheme ran by two Haitian men. In January, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced another SNAP fraud bust – a $1 million scheme ran by a naturalized U.S. citizen from the Domincan Republic, two illegal immigrants, and one green card holder.

The state Senate’s Republican Caucus is calling for an oversight hearing with the Senate Post Audit & Oversight Committee on SNAP-EBT fraud in Massachusetts and the DTA after the Herald’s whistleblower report.

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