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A cashier scans groceries, including produce, which is covered by the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), at a grocery store in Baltimore, on Nov. 10. (Stephanie Scarbrough/Associated Press)
The Trump Administration is threatening to withhold some Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds from Maine and other Democratic-led states that have refused to provide the names and immigration status of recipients to the federal government.
During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said cuts will begin next week for states that have not provided more data on SNAP recipients. The government is targeting administrative funds, not the benefits people receive, according to the Associated Press.
“We asked for all the states for the first time to turn over their data to the federal government to let the USDA partner with them to root out this fraud, to make sure that those who really need food stamps are getting them, but also to ensure that the American taxpayer is protected,” Rollins said.
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Maine has refused for months to provide the information and this summer joined a lawsuit challenging the request for personal information, including Social Security numbers, birth dates and home addresses. In September, a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from disallowing SNAP funds.
Rollins said 28 states and Guam have complied with the data request, but 21 have not.
The federal government last week sent states a letter urging compliance, but the parties agreed to give the states until Dec. 8 to respond.
“We have sent Democrat States yet another request for data, and if they fail to comply, they will be provided with formal warning that USDA will pull their administrative funds,” the USDA said in a statement Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Gov. Janet Mills said Wednesday that the governor and the Maine attorney general “will stand in the way of this cruel and callous attempt by President Trump to cause Maine people to go hungry.”
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The federal government funds benefits for about 42 million people, but states share the cost of running SNAP. Federal law allows the USDA to withhold some of the money states receive for administering SNAP if there’s a pattern of noncompliance with certain federal regulations.
Sen. Susan Collin, R-Maine, said in a statement Wednesday that she urged the USDA to distribute SNAP benefits during the government shutdown to support vulnerable families and is glad food aid “is currently not at risk.”
When it comes to the administrative funds, Collins said she expects any efforts to withhold them to be held up in court.
“In the meantime, I would 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,” Collins said.
Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, said in a statement Wednesday that “rather than confront the very real crisis of hunger in Maine and across the country, the Trump administration is hellbent on destroying the program that 42 million Americans rely on to feed their families.”
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“The historic gutting of SNAP in the Big Ugly Bill wasn’t enough for them. Now Secretary Rollins is threatening to illegally withhold federal funding from states that won’t hand over sensitive personal information on SNAP recipients — data they want for immigration enforcement despite a federal court order blocking this exact demand. We all saw how well the last data grab by DOGE went,” Pingree said in the statement.
The offices of Sen. Angus King and Rep. Jared Golden did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
SNAP was in the spotlight during the government shutdown after the administration said it would not release funding for monthly benefits. That move prompted multiple lawsuits and orders from judges to distribute SNAP. Ultimately, November benefits in Maine were distributed on schedule.
That uncertainty came weeks after the largest ever cuts to the program went into effect in October, putting heightened pressure on Maine food pantries, some of which report record numbers of people seeking assistance.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
PORTLAND (WGME) – Five cases of HIV have been detected in Cumberland County among people who inject drugs, according to an alert from the Maine CDC.
Five cases in a year is a significant jump from the one case the county sees in a typical year.
The state wants to get the message out that people at risk, like intravenous drug users, should get tested every three months.
Experts say the reason behind the spike in cases could be a decrease in testing, a change in syringe-service programs or lack of awareness.
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They say having awareness is one of the best ways to slow the spread.
“Every person who tests positive, if they get on medicine, that cannot transmit the virus, so every time we identify someone with HIV, we can get them into care, reduces chance of transmitting,” Dr. Stephen Rawlings of the MaineHealth Adult Specialty Care Clinic said. “Any one case above baseline is too many, so just increased awareness is really part of the response to get people on testing.”
The CDC says people who are not at risk of HIV should still get at least one test in their life.
A worker delivers heating oil to a home in Auburn in January 2023. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released more than $39 million in low-income heating assistance funds for households in Maine, Sen. Susan Collins’ office announced Tuesday.
Funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, had been delayed for weeks by the federal government shutdown, which ended last month after spanning a record 43 days. Without federal support, the state reshuffled some money to get benefits to the program’s most vulnerable participants, but it warned that the move was not sustainable.
Maine’s new allocation includes roughly $38.3 million for the state and about $1.5 million for tribal governments throughout Maine, Collins’ office said.
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“LIHEAP funding provides vital relief to thousands of Mainers, helping them avoid the constant worry of having to choose between heating their homes and covering other basic necessities,” Collins said in a written statement.
The announcement came as families throughout the state faced Maine’s first significant snowstorm of the year. In Portland, the National Weather Service predicted a high temperature of 31 degrees.
Maine gets about $40 million in federal LIHEAP funding each year, according to MaineHousing, the quasi-state agency that administers the program. Of that, $26 million covers heating assistance for residents, while the rest goes to other programs and administrative costs.
Heating assistance amounts range based on factors like household income and demographics. Benefits are delivered in the form of a one-time payment that is generally sent directly to fuel vendors and appears as a credit on participants’ bills.
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Daniel Kool is the Portland Press Herald’s utilities reporter, covering electricity, gas, broadband – anything you get a bill for. He also covers the impact of tariffs on Maine and picks up the odd business…
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