In an effort to address a staggering welfare fraud case that has drained taxpayers of at least $1 billion, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has mandated Minnesota to undertake a thorough recertification of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients in four of its counties.

Rollins, in her communication to Governor Tim Walz, stressed the need for the state’s involvement in a pilot initiative aimed at eradicating fraud and misuse within the program. This directive is seen as a crucial step in ensuring the integrity of SNAP benefits.

“As part of this recertification process, it is imperative to verify that SNAP households in Hennepin, Ramsey, Washington, and Wright counties meet all eligibility criteria,” Rollins detailed. “This includes accounting for the income and resources of any excluded household members, conducting in-person interviews, and utilizing federal eligibility tools such as the enhanced, no-cost Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program database.”

She further instructed, “Upon reviewing the information gathered during the recertification process, determinations must be made regarding the eligibility of SNAP benefits for each household in the specified counties, and any ineligible households should be unenrolled.”

By targeting these areas, USDA Secretary Rollins is taking decisive action to eliminate fraudulent activity within the SNAP program. Her letter to Governor Walz underscores the urgency and necessity of reassessing SNAP beneficiaries to protect the program’s integrity and ensure that assistance reaches those truly in need.

SNAP benefits recertification typically requires recipients to provide documentation showing they are eligible for the program. 

In the past, Rollins alleged that hundreds of thousands of deceased people were receiving SNAP benefits and that some were getting benefits more than once.

The move came amid a scandal during Walz’s watch in which nonprofits like Feeding Our Future, primarily in the Somali community, allegedly defrauded taxpayers of at least $1 billion.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is under fire amid a massive fraud scandal in his state.  (Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)

On Monday, Education Secretary Linda McMahon urged Walz to resign over the fraud. She said her agency uncovered a scheme in which “ghost students” in Minnesota that left Riverland Community College averaging more than 100 potentially fraudulent applications per year.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, provides federal food aid to more than 40 million Americans each month. (Fox News) (Olivianna Calmes)

“We call these fraudsters ‘ghost students’ because they were not ID-verified and often did not live in the United States, or they simply did not exist,” McMahon wrote. “In Minnesota, 1,834 ghost students were found to have received $12.5 million in taxpayer-funded grants and loans. They collected checks from the federal government, shared a small portion of the money with the college, and pocketed the rest — without attending the college at all.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the governor’s office.