By Guy Page
The State of Vermont is learning that – especially under the Trump administration – there are no government shekels without government shackles.
Gov. Phil Scott today defended his decision, announced earlier this month, to hand over data on Vermont’s 60,000 recipients of SNAP (acronomyn AKA ‘food stamps’) to the Trump administration.
Few of the critics of his SNAP data sharing appear to recognize either the administration’s legal obligations or the fact that all of the SNAP funding comes from the federal revenue. So while not usually a supporter of Trump administration policies, in expressing opposition “we have to be judicious,” Scott said in his opening remarks at his noon Thursday press conference in Montpelier. The state-administered program is 100% funded by the feds.
The story began in March, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order to limit waste, fraud and abuse in government spending. Based on that EO, in May, the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced it will require States to make certain all records associated with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and allotments are shared with the federal government.
“President Trump is rightfully requiring the federal government to have access to all programs it funds,” said Secretary Brooke Rollins, “and SNAP is no exception. For years, this program has been on autopilot, with no USDA insight into real-time data. The Department is focused on appropriate and lawful participation in SNAP, and today’s request is one of many steps to ensure SNAP is preserved for only those eligible.”
On March 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14243, Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos, requiring agency heads to “take all necessary steps, to the maximum extent consistent with law, to ensure the federal government has unfettered access to comprehensive data from all State programs that receive federal funding, including, as appropriate, data generated by those programs but maintained in third-party databases.” The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is federally funded, administered by States, and includes relationships with processors and retailers, among others, all of which are information siloes. Today’s guidance prioritizes program integrity and will allow FNS, for the first time, transparency into the data long only held by States and Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) processors.
Amanda Wheeler, Gov. Scott’s press secretary, said: Last month, the federal government notified states that they would be requiring states to provide specific information about Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to validate eligibility determinations and ensure program integrity.
Although calling the Trump administration’s requirement ‘unnecessarily political,” Scott administration Press Secretary Amanda Wheeler said this week that “the bottom line is, this is a federal benefit. The federal government is legally entitled to this information and has been for much of the last decade.”
Wheeler explained what she said are the relevant facts:
“All information provided to the federal government is information states are required to provide in accordance with the USDA’s notice in the Federal Register published June 23, 2025, pursuant to the federal Privacy Act of 1974.
“A law was also passed through a bipartisan effort in Congress in 2018, with unanimous support from Vermont’s congressional delegation, clarifying the government’s right to this information.
There is no conflict with state law, and simply objecting to this request for the sake of political resistance could put the SNAP benefits of thousands of Vermont’s most vulnerable at risk.
“As the Governor has said, we cannot live in chaos for the next three and a half years. Vermont will continue to evaluate all requests and actions by the federal administration based on reality – not rhetoric,” Wheeler said.
There is no clear harm in providing the data, Wheeler said.
“When there is clear evidence of harm to Vermonters, the Scott Administration will continue to push back against such decisions and requests. Despite all the political drama on this issue, this is not one of those moments. Again, the facts matter. And the facts here are clear: everything we have provided to the federal government is within the limits of long-established law.”
Several elected Democrats strenuously disagree with Scott’s decision and the explanations for it.
“It was wrong for the Trump Administration to request this information,” Treasurer Mike Pieciak said.
“It was wrong for Vermont to voluntarily turn it over. 20 other states determined this request is illegal and are fighting back. Vermont’s attorney general agreed and was ready to join that fight.”
According to news reports, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark was prepared to join a suit of 21 states and the District of Columbia fighting the release of SNAP information. If so, her action was forestalled by Scott’s release of the information. In any case, Clark’s name is not among the litigating attorneys general.
The state treasurer – like Clark, considered a favorite among Democratic voters to seek higher office, including governor – opposes what he calls a “breach of public trust.”
“64,000 Vermonters, 1 in 10 of our neighbors, rely on SNAP to keep their families fed. They will now need to worry about persecution and surveillance from the Trump Administration because they chose to trust the state government to protect their data.
“I’m concerned that this breach of public trust will discourage Vermonters from signing up for the programs they need,” Pieciak said.
He called the sharing of data ‘capitulation’ to the Trump administration.
“I also share many Vermonters’ concern over how and why this decision was made. Capitulating to the Trump Administration will not keep Vermonters safe from their harmful agenda. The President’s threats are often hollow and they do not withstand legal scrutiny. But the choice not to fight will have real and immediate consequences for Vermonters.”
“Vermont elected leaders must stand up to protect the most vulnerable. Our office is entrusted with sensitive data from tens of thousands of Vermonters, and we will take every measure to protect their privacy from the Trump administration in Washington.”
An outspoken critic of the governor’s policy on homelessness also condemned Scott’s decision.
Benda Siegel, Executive Director of End Homelessness Vermont, said: “On Monday, August 4th, 64,000 low income Vermonters who rely on food assistance had their private information shared with the Trump Administration. This came on the heels of President Trump signaling his intention to target people living with disabilities at the intersection of unsheltered homelessness, through his recent executive order. This information was shared without knowledge or permission of our clients and others, who have entrusted the Vermont state government to keep their personal data private. This information includes the names, dates of birth, Social Security Numbers and addresses of almost all of our clients.
“This is irreversible and untenable harm. We can not allow things like this to happen in Vermont”, said Executive Director Brenda Siegel, a former Democratic nominee for governor. This move by the Scott Administration erodes the trust and safety of our fellow Vermonters.”
All of the staff at EHVT have received SNAP benefits at some point recently, and they are also the authorized representative for hundreds of clients. EHVT does not know if our personal and private data was breached as well in this process.
“As a woman in the LGBTQ community who is Jewish and lives with disabilities, I do not know where the line was drawn. I do not know if this made my own family unsafe”, said Siegel. “So many of our clients live with multiple marginalized identities, as I do. Vermonters have a right to know when and how their data was breached.”
Rep. Monique Priestley (D-Bradford), an advocate for data privacy, wrote in an op-ed:
“Governor Scott’s administration stated that Vermont had no choice but to comply. Meanwhile, national privacy and legal experts, including the Center for Democracy & Technology, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and Protect Democracy, made clear in their detailed May 2025 analysis that the USDA’s request violated several federal laws, specifically the Privacy Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, and the E-Government Act. USDA failed to meet legally required steps before requesting Vermonters’ personal data, including publishing notices for public comment, creating a privacy impact assessment, and establishing a system of records.
“Attorney General Charity Clark recognized this clearly and was prepared to challenge the legality of this request. Instead, the Governor’s administration chose to comply without meaningful resistance, despite the fact that at least 20 other states refused on solid legal grounds. Vermont chose compliance over protecting Vermonters’ privacy and civil rights.
“The damage this disclosure causes is real and immediate. Vermonters’ personal data—including Social Security numbers, addresses, income, and household information—is now unnecessarily exposed. Such data can be misused in decisions regarding housing, employment, education, healthcare, insurance, loans, and immigration. It threatens Vermont families with discrimination, surveillance, and loss of critical support programs. Most troubling, it undermines trust, discouraging people from seeking the assistance they need for fear their information will be used against them.
“I have spent the past several years leading efforts in the Legislature to strengthen Vermont’s data privacy protections. Many fellow legislators joined this tripartisan fight and supported comprehensive privacy laws, only to face a veto from Governor Scott in 2024 and significant industry opposition again in 2025. We could have acted sooner to prevent this exact situation.”