The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the following statement Wednesday regarding the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) review of former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s choice to modify the longstanding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) obligation practice.
“Make no mistake, Secretary Vilsack and Deputy Under Secretary Stacy Dean put politics over commonsense, ignoring scores of USDA financial analysts and policy experts. Using a memorandum from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities as their guide, Vilsack and Dean compromised the integrity of SNAP, the financial standing of USDA, and further eroded public trust,” said Kailee Buller, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “The Trump Administration will immediately correct this egregious action, making certain material weaknesses like this do not happen again.”
According to the GAO, the incident stems from a decision made by USDA on September 19, 2023. The decision by the GAO is a response to a request from the USDA Office of Inspector General’s audit of USDA’s consolidated financial statements for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
“USDA’s reckless accounting gimmicks under Secretary Vilsack weren’t just bad bookkeeping—they were an abuse of taxpayer resources and a violation of law,” says House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15). “Ignoring their own financial experts, Biden’s USDA chose political convenience over program integrity and the financial standing of the department, a clear pattern of operation for the prior Administration. We will not let this go unchecked—we will ensure accountability and put an end to these partisan budget games.”
