This commentary is by Rebecca Holcombe of Norwich. She is a Vermont state representative for Windsor-Orange 2.
On March 20, the Trump administration issued an executive order directing all federal agencies to break down “information silos” and gain “unfettered access” to data from every state program funded by the federal government.
This includes a terrifying array of data: your psychiatric and health records, detailed financial data, photos, and more, all to be consolidated into a single massive federal surveillance database.
Then, last month, the Trump administration ordered states to turn over sensitive personal and financial data from Americans who have used SNAP, a food assistance program, in the past five years, including during the Covid-19 pandemic. In response, 21 states and Washington, D.C., sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture, seeking to block the order.
Vermont was not one of those states.
Instead of joining those leaders who are standing up for their residents, Gov. Phil Scott handed over the data — without the consent of affected Vermonters. No press release. No consultation. Just quiet compliance.
Let’s be clear: This is not abstract.
According to Vermont Public, these records include “names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and home addresses of all members of any household in Vermont that received SNAP benefits in the past five years.” The Scott administration even plans to share your specific food purchases.
At least 1 in 5 Vermont households is affected. Many of them are working families, children, U.S.-born children of immigrants and people who lost jobs during the pandemic.
This wasn’t just a technical decision. This was a political decision — and a moral one.
Other leaders said no.
Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky called the order what it is: unlawful. California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta called it “a bait-and-switch of the worst kind.” As he put it, “SNAP recipients provided this information to get help feeding their families — not to be entered into a government surveillance database or be used as targets in the president’s inhumane immigration agenda.”
Why didn’t Scott do the same? Why didn’t he stand with other states to fight back? Why didn’t he give Vermont’s own attorney general, Charity Clark, a chance to resist in court? As Clark told Vermont Public, “(The Scott administration is) approaching this in a way that prevents me from being able to join a lawsuit.”
This is not how Vermonters expect our government to behave. Data collected to ensure that Vermont children do not go hungry is now being used to fuel a federal surveillance regime. It is a betrayal of consent, a violation of trust, and a direct contradiction of Vermont’s proud tradition of protecting privacy and resisting federal overreach.
This isn’t about “waste, fraud and abuse.” In 2024, Vermont had the fifth-lowest SNAP payment error of any state — a level even the Trump administration deems acceptable. The federal government explicitly stated that Vermont does not need corrective action on SNAP. So if they are demanding our personal information, it’s not to solve a problem with SNAP. It’s to serve a different agenda.
And yes, there’s an obvious and immediate threat: immigration enforcement. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, who requested the data from Vermont, has publicly called for “mass deportations” and “no amnesty under any circumstances.” The fear is not hypothetical. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is already using data-mined insurance claims as a “deportation tool.”
Now, thanks to Scott, ICE and other federal agencies may have access to the updated addresses and immigration statuses of tens of thousands of Vermont residents. Vermont did not send the National Guard to round people up, but we did tell the federal government where to find them.
Even federal technologists have warned against what’s happening. In a public resignation letter, 21 staffers from the Department of Government Efficiency wrote:
“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services.”
But that’s exactly what Scott enabled. Once this data has been handed over, it cannot be taken back.
The people of Vermont deserve answers. We deserve to know what was shared, with whom and why. We deserve to know why our state’s leadership broke ranks with other governors who chose to defend their residents. We deserve to know how the Scott administration will protect the people who are now at risk: neighbors, children and families whose only “crime” was asking for help to eat.
Vermonters do not believe in big government surveillance. We do not believe in handing ICE a search engine to find our friends. We certainly do not believe helping feed your kids should cost you your privacy.
