U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins testifies before the House Committee on Agriculture on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins struggled on Thursday during a House Agriculture Committee hearing when asked basic questions about her department's own data.
Rep. Angie Craig, a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota, probed Rollins about allegations of fraud involving recipients of SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps. Rollins tried to parrot conservative talking points, but got a little mixed up with the data coming from her own department.
Craig hammered Rollins on how many farms have failed in the past year
She then moved on to ask whether Rollins knows that "farmers say they can't afford fertilizer as a result of the president's war in Iran?"
Rollins claimed that it differed by geographic region, implying that some farmers have one demand while others have another.
A frustrated Craig asserted, "Oh, my gosh! Seventy percent is the answer."
Then she pivoted to SNAP benefits, with the committee's top Democrat asking whether Rollins knew the fraud rate among SNAP recipients.
Rollins said that the data is based on information that is "missing from the states that we can't verify. That's the whole point of this is with no ability to verify California, Minnesota—"
Craig cut in, "1.6 percent according to USDA."
Rollins claimed that Minnesota is reporting a low fraud rate, which she considers "an absolute joke."
"I'll say it again. The USDA's own data found 1.6 percent," Craig said.
Rollins tried to cut in and claim that Craig's data showed that. In fact, a 2025 fact sheet from the USDA confirms the data.
The release goes so far as to say that fraud "occurs relatively infrequently."
"I don't think you understand the difference between an error rate and a fraud rate. I honestly don't. It is one of the lowest programs — the lowest fraud rate in any program in America, is the SNAP program," Craig explained.
"You can't be serious," Rollins responded.
"Your own data says 1.6 percent," Craig said.
Rollins claimed that the reason it's so low is that states don't allow the federal government to "confirm" the information, presumably with their own investigations. That same 2025 fact sheet from Rollins' own office brags about the department's efforts to reduce "infrequent" fraud.
After a back and forth, Craig cut in, "Look, Madam Secretary, I'm asking you these questions because these issues are personal," Craig said.
Rollins accused her of not asking for legitimate answers.
