Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned that fraud within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is "very significant" and accused Democrats of deliberately blocking efforts to clean it up.
He told Newsmax that the left’s push to expand dependency on government programs is driven by raw political ambition.
Appearing Wednesday on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Cruz said Democrats repeatedly oppose Republican efforts to tighten eligibility requirements and add safeguards to detect abuse within the food-stamp system.
"I think there’s very significant fraud," Cruz said. "And every time Congress tries to address it, tries to put in checks to prevent fraud, to catch fraud, the Democrats fight tooth and nail."
"The only reasonable inference from that is the Democrats want fraud," he added.
Cruz made the remarks just days before SNAP benefits are set to lapse for 42 million Americans if Congress fails to end the government shutdown.
His warning also comes amid growing reports of widespread fraud and abuse in the food-stamp program, where recipients brag on social media of illegally selling benefits or trading them for cash and other goods.
Cruz argued that Democrats benefit politically from growing the number of Americans reliant on federal aid, saying it cements a culture of dependency that helps the party maintain power.
"They’d be happy with 42 million becoming 60 million, 80 million, even 100 million people," Cruz said. "Why? Because everyone they can make dependent on the government, they believe will vote for Democrats and more government forever."
"Everything for today’s Democrats is secondary to staying in political power," Cruz added.
The Texas senator said the pattern extends beyond SNAP, pointing to the Biden administration’s open-borders policies as part of a broader strategy to grow the welfare state and reshape the electorate.
"That was a major agenda item for the Biden administration and the Democrats," Cruz continued. "They want as many people as possible dependent on the federal government.
"They allowed this country to be invaded — over 12 million illegal aliens in four years — and a very large percentage of those illegal immigrants ended up on government welfare.
"It was ultimately about power," Cruz said.
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