¶ Overview
From 2025 to 2026, Kris Kobach supported the Trump administration’s request for the personal data of 730,000 Kansans who relied on food assistance or applied for benefits. In 2025, Kobach sued Kansas Governor Kelly for refusing to turn over the sensitive SNAP data. In 2026, Kobach called on Kansas lawmakers to force Governor Kelly to submit the SNAP data to Trump’s Department of Agriculture.
In 2018, Kobach proposed increasing the work requirements for TANF recipients and implementing work requirements and illegal drug testing requirements for SNAP recipients. Since 2015, Kansas already had one of the “trickiest” TANF programs for people in need, with only 2,800 recipients by 2023. No Kid Hungry warned that new work requirements for SNAP recipients would increase hunger and threaten access to food for families in need. In 2024, more than 71,000 households in Kansas relied on SNAP to afford groceries.
¶ Kris Kobach Supported The Trump Administration’s Request For The Personal Data Of 730,000 Kansans Who Relied On Food Assistance Or Applied For Benefits
¶ Kobach Sued Governor Kelly For Refusing To Turn Over Personal Data On 730,000 Kansans Who Relied On Food Assistance To The Trump Administration
September 2025: Kobach Sued Governor Kelly For Refusing To Turn Over Kansas SNAP Data To The Trump Administration. According to a press release from Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, “Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach today announced that he is asking a court to compel Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration to follow Kansas and federal law and turn over Kansas SNAP data to the federal government. ‘It’s ironic that the Governor would join a lawsuit to get a hypothetical amount of money for new grants for things like DEI and food justice, but she’s willing to sacrifice $10.4 million for Kansas’s most vulnerable citizens that the state will definitely lose immediately if she doesn’t supply information to the federal government,’ Kobach said. Flanked by the Kansas Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins and Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi, Kobach said Kansas law mandates that the Kansas Department of Children and Families and Secretary Laura Howard cooperate with the federal government including sharing SNAP data with the USDA’s food and nutrition services.” [Press Release – Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, 9/8/25]
The U.S. Department Of Agriculture Demanded The Kansas Department For Children And Families To Turn Over Personal Data On 730,000 Kansans Who Relied On Food Assistance Or Applied For Benefits. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture had demanded the Kansas Department for Children and Families turn over personal data on 730,000 Kansans who were in families that received food stamps or simply applied for benefits in the past five years. The SNAP data dispute was resolved in February with a settlement where USDA agreed to comply with state and federal privacy laws. The governor had argued she should control litigation involving executive branch agencies that she is in charge of. Kobach had argued he is the one with that authority.” [Topeka Capital-Journal, 3/27/26]
¶ Kobach Urged Kansas Lawmakers To Mandate Governor Kelly To Turn Over Sensitive SNAP Data To Trump’s U.S. Department Of Agriculture
February 2026: Kobach Urged Kansas Lawmakers To Mandate Governor Kelly To Turn Over Sensitive SNAP Data To Trump’s U.S. Department Of Agriculture. According to Kris Kobach’s Twitter, “I urged lawmakers today to make the law absolutely clear and require Gov. Kelly to turn over SNAP data to the USDA. Her refusal jeopardizes benefits for needy families. The vulnerable deserve better.”
[Twitter, @KrisKobach1787, 2/3/26]
¶ Kobach Proposed Increasing Work Requirements For TANF Recipients And Proposed Work Requirements For SNAP Recipients, Which Would Make Food More Expensive For More Than 71,000 Households In Kansas
¶ Kobach Proposed Increasing Work Requirements For TANF Recipients Despite Kansas Already Having One Of The “Trickiest” TANF Programs For People In Need
2018: Kobach Proposed Increasing Work Requirements For TANF Recipients From 20 Hours To 30 Hours Per Week, Saying It Was “Time To Move People Off Welfare And Into Jobs.” According to Breitbart, “On Wednesday, Kobach — endorsed by President Trump — laid out his welfare reform agenda, which includes saving Kansas taxpayer money by requiring able-bodied Medicaid beneficiaries to work no less than 30 hours a week. The plan will also require drug testing for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — otherwise known as food stamps — recipients and for Medicaid users. ‘It’s time to move people off of welfare and into jobs,’ Kobach said during a press conference. Able-bodied food stamp recipients and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) users in the state would also need to start working 30 hours a week, rather than the 20 hours a week that are currently required.” [Breitbart, 10/17/18]
By FY 2023, Nearly 2,800 Kansans, Including 1,500 Children, Relied On Cash Assistance, A Significant Drop From The 13,700 Kansans Enrolled In TANF In 2015. According to the Kansas Reflector, "In 2015, more than 13,700 Kansans received cash assistance, and more than 10,300 of those recipients were children, according to federal data. By 2018, caseloads decreased to roughly 4,200 recipients, more than 2,500 of which were children. In fiscal year 2023, average caseloads were at nearly 2,800 recipients, of which nearly 1,500 were children." [Kansas Reflector, 10/4/24]
- 2015: Kansas Passed Restrictions To Their TANF Program, Including Work Requirements, That Made Kansas’ Cash Assistance Program “One Of The Trickiest To Access In The Country.” According to the Kansas Reflector, "Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly wants the Legislature to revisit the 2015 policy that placed restrictions on access to the state’s cash assistance program and made Kansas’ program one of the trickiest to access in the country. [...] Before the HOPE Act, Kansas’ ceiling was 48 months, but the 2015 legislation reduced it to 36 months, and then 24 months in 2015. Additional requirements were baked into both iterations of the HOPE Act, including limits on the amount of money someone could withdraw from an ATM with their cash assistance card, a ban on participation for repeat drug offenders, restrictions on where cash assistance can be spent and work requirements." [Kansas Reflector, 10/4/24]
¶ Kobach Proposed Imposing Work Requirements And Illegal Drug Testing For SNAP Recipients Even Though They Would Threaten Access To Food To More Than 71,000 Kansan Households
2018: Kobach Proposed Imposing Work Requirements And Drug Testing For SNAP Recipients And Increasing Work Requirements For TANF Recipients, Saying It Was “Time To Move People Off Welfare And Into Jobs.” According to Breitbart, “On Wednesday, Kobach — endorsed by President Trump — laid out his welfare reform agenda, which includes saving Kansas taxpayer money by requiring able-bodied Medicaid beneficiaries to work no less than 30 hours a week. The plan will also require drug testing for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — otherwise known as food stamps — recipients and for Medicaid users. ‘It’s time to move people off of welfare and into jobs,’ Kobach said during a press conference. Able-bodied food stamp recipients and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) users in the state would also need to start working 30 hours a week, rather than the 20 hours a week that are currently required.” [Breitbart, 10/17/18]
¶ No Kid Hungry Warned New Work Requirements On SNAP Recipients Would Threaten Access To Food As More Than 71,000 Households In Kansas Relied On SNAP
No Kid Hungry: New Work Requirements On SNAP Recipients Would Threaten The Access To Food For Families In Need As They Faced Increasing Food Costs And Higher Inflation And Would Likely Increase Hunger. According to No Kid Hungry, “SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is one of the nation’s most effective tools in the fight against hunger, supporting more than 40 million Americans, including 1 in 5 children, in affording nutritious food. This is particularly vital as families face rising food prices and higher inflation-related costs in housing and transportation. However, recent proposals to impose new work requirements on SNAP participants threaten to make it even harder for families to access this crucial support. […] A good job is one of the best pathways out of poverty. Unfortunately, work restriction policies do nothing to make it easier for people to secure employment. Instead, they serve to limit access to SNAP and increase hunger. In fact, research shows that work requirements do little to help people get jobs and don’t increase the number of people working.” [No Kid Hungry, 3/14/25]
2024: Across Kansas, 71,066 Households Relied On SNAP.
[U.S. Department of Agriculture, SNAP Community Characteristics, Accessed 5/1/26]
¶ The Federal Government Said It Was Illegal To Require Drug Testing For Some SNAP Recipients
2014: The Federal Government Warned That Requiring Some Food Stamp Recipients To Undergo Drug Testing Was Unlawful. According to Reuters, “The federal government has warned the state of Georgia that its new law requiring some food-stamp recipients to undergo drug testing is illegal. In a letter to Georgia's attorney general on Tuesday, Robin Bailey, regional administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told Georgia that drug testing to qualify for food stamps ‘is not allowable under law.’ The letter did not specify a possible penalty.” [Reuters, 6/4/14]