The editorial board of The Washington Post called this week for stricter oversight and “meaningful reform” of federal entitlement programs, singling out the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, following a sweeping fraud scandal in Minnesota that gained national attention after reporting by independent journalist Nick Shirley, as reported by the New York Post.
In an editorial published Wednesday, the Post said Shirley’s investigation into Minnesota’s daycare system exposed more than $100 million in alleged fraud and finally forced broader scrutiny of what it described as a bloated welfare apparatus.
The board remarked that the scandal pierced national awareness belatedly, adding that “such a spirit of scrupulousness would have been nice a few billion tax dollars ago.”
The editorial argued that as the federal welfare system has expanded to more than 80 major programs, it has become “a target-rich environment for alleged scam artists like those in Minneapolis,” and said the Minnesota scandal “underlines the need for serious reforms across America.”
“Too bad that too many progressive leaders are lackadaisical at best about cracking down on fraud and errors, lest it curtail social services,” the Post wrote.
According to the editorial board, that resistance is especially pronounced with open-ended entitlement programs such as SNAP, which provides food assistance to millions of Americans.
The Post noted that several Democratic-led states have sued to block the Donald Trump administration’s effort to combat waste and fraud by requiring states to share SNAP recipient data, including immigration status, under threat of funding cuts.
The Post acknowledged that it remains legally unclear whether the administration can cut off funding entirely, pointing out that blue states secured a preliminary injunction in October temporarily blocking the policy.
Still, the editorial highlighted SNAP’s documented vulnerabilities.
“The truth is that SNAP doesn’t just help the hungry,” the board wrote, noting that the program had “the fourth highest rate of documented fraud across all federal programs from 2018 to 2022,” totaling $10.5 billion.
The Post referenced criticism from Maura Healey, who accused President Trump of “playing politics with the ability of working parents with children, seniors, and people with disabilities to get food.”
The editorial countered by citing Massachusetts’ own record, stating the state posted a 14 percent SNAP payment error rate in fiscal year 2024, the seventh highest in the nation.
Nationwide, the board added, overpayments accounted for a larger share of errors than underpayments.
The editorial also discussed provisions in a tax bill passed in July requiring states with error rates above 6 percent to cover up to 15 percent of benefit costs beginning in 2028.
A two-year buffer was included for states with high error rates, a move the board questioned.
“The left claims Trump wants Americans to go hungry, but if an individual shouldn’t be eligible for food stamps in the first place, where’s the cruelty in making sure benefits go to someone who is?” the board wrote.
While supporting stronger vetting of welfare recipients, the Post cautioned the Trump administration against using fraud concerns to justify sweeping cuts or to leverage recipient data for what it called a “mass deportation crusade.”
After Shirley’s daycare fraud video went viral, the editorial noted, the administration moved to freeze all childcare payments to Minnesota, a step the Post said risked harming legitimate beneficiaries.
Instead, the board argued for reforms such as block grants, saying fixed funding could encourage states to spend more carefully and vet recipients more thoroughly.
“Social safety nets crumble when most taxpayers feel like welfare money goes to undeserving people,” the editorial concluded. “Scrutinizing food stamp rolls is a small step in that direction.”
