According to a new report from Breitbart, The Obama administration approved 71,000 SNAP retailers without giving them background checks.
The Obama administration approved more than 71,000 retailers to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits but did not require many of these retailers to undergo background checks, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Institute (GAI).
The report from GAI, where Breitbart News Senior-Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer serves as president, found that the Obama administration approved 71,471 retailers between 2008 and 2012 who applied for the first time to become authorized SNAP retailers— but did not require the applicants to undergo background checks.
A 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) annual report on SNAP retailers showed that the number of authorized SNAP retailers grew from 175,094 in 2008 to 246,565 in 2012— a 41 percent increase during the time period leading up to 2013 when SNAP enrollment reached its highest recorded level since the welfare program’s inception.
The report goes on…
But a July 2013 audit from the USDA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) explaining the increase in authorized SNAP retailers stated that the USDA “does not require retailers to undergo self-initiated criminal background checks” and does not conduct background checks on store owners applying to be eligible to accept SNAP benefits due to federal regulations.
Once again the Democrats have shown a willingness to allow government programs to be abused. The report also found that 586 store owners were allowed to continue SNAP benefits even though they had been disqualified from accepting SNAP benefits at other stores.
Thanks to this audit background checks have now been instituted.
