Joining the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the departments of Agriculture and Education released updated interpretations of the term “federal public benefit” as used in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), 8 U.S.C. § 1611. The key takeaway from these announcements is that the Trump Administration intends to significantly curtail the number of “taxpayer-funded program benefits” accessible to individuals who are not United States citizens or who meet the statutory definition of “qualified alien”.

On Thursday, we published a client alert detailing HHS’s notice (0991-ZA57) and its revised policy, which identified programs such as Head Start, certified community behavioral health centers, mental health and substance use programs administered by SAMHSA and Title X Family Planning programs as satisfying the statutory definition of “federal public benefit”— a change in interpretation from the former approach.

The notices set forth by the other agencies are described in more detail below. We anticipate that agencies beyond HHS, Agriculture and Education may soon follow with their own revised interpretations of PRWORA.

Department of Agriculture: The notice issued on July 10, 2025, identifies potential USDA programs that provide “Federal public benefits” within the scope of PRWORA. The notice states that § 1615(b) provides: “Nothing in [PRWORA] shall prohibit or require a State to provide to an individual who is not a citizen or a qualified alien, as defined in section 1641(b) of [Title 8], benefits under programs established under the provisions of law described in paragraph (2).” It then goes on to list statutory provisions in paragraph (2) as: “(A) Programs (other than the school lunch program and the school breakfast program) under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.)[;] (B) Section 4 of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 612c note)[;] (C) The Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983[;] [and] (D) The food distribution program on Indian reservations established under section 2013(b) of Title 7.”

The notice states that the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) interprets all food and nutrition programs to meet the definition of “Federal public benefit” pursuant to § 1611(c)(1)(B), specifically identifying the following programs:

• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Nutrition Assistance Program for Territories
• Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)
• The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
• Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
• WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs
• Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs
• National School Lunch Program
• School Breakfast Program
• Child and Adult Care Food Program
• Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program
• Special Milk Program
• Summer Food Service Program
• Summer EBT
• Disaster Assistance

While recognizing that USDA programs are available to tens of millions of individuals, the notice indicates that USDA will “continue to evaluate the manner in which it will verify compliance with PRWORA,” and analyze the economic impact of this interpretation – which to date, it does not find to be “significant.” USDA advised that additional guidance will be forthcoming. The USDA’s notice follows guidance issued to all state agencies on April 24, 2025, directing them to ensure that illegal immigrants do not receive federal benefits. The guidance mandated enhanced identity and immigration verification practices when reviewing SNAP eligibility, in line with President Trump’s Executive Order 14218, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders.”

Department of Education: This notice prioritizes U.S. citizens and “qualified aliens” for all federal postsecondary programs (so long as such benefits are not protected under Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982) as part of a basic public education). In a press release issued by the Department of Education, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated that non-qualified individuals would no longer be able to access federal public benefits in career, technical and adult education programs. More specifically, programs such as those under the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V) and the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) would be interpreted as “federal public benefits” subject to PRWORA. Higher Education Act (HEA) programs, including Pell Grants and student loans, also would be off limits to non-qualified individuals.

The Department’s notice expressly provides that grantees and subgrantees have a responsibility to verify participant eligibility and suggests five methods for doing so, including a review of U.S. birth certificates or the DHS Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. However, the notice also acknowledges that: “Unless required by Departmental regulations, grantees have no affirmative obligation to report on verification to the Department. Because this interpretative rule is not legislative, the Department lacks the ability to require affirmative reporting.”

Relating to verification requirements, PRWORA exempts “nonprofit, charitable organizations” from needing to verify an individual’s immigration status when providing benefits.  (See Section 432(d) of PRWORA, as amended, providing that “a nonprofit charitable organization, in providing any Federal public benefit…or any State or local public benefit…is not required under this chapter to determine, verify, or otherwise require proof of eligibility of any applicant for such benefits.”).

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Because the legal landscape regarding these issues continues to evolve for federal funding recipients, please join Feldesman’s Monthly Briefings for Federal Grantees: Key Updates and Developments webinar. The next webinar in this series will take place on July 15, 2025.

If you have specific questions, please contact Jesi J. Carlson at jcarlson@feldesman.com, Mindy B. Pava at mpava@feldesman.com or Ted Waters at ewaters@feldesman.com.