How a $30 Billion Welfare Program Became a ‘Slush Fund’ for States

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Feb. 7, 2026 9:00 pm ET | Cameron McWhirter , Dan Frosch and Scott Calvert

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Republicans and Democrats alike decry the lack of oversight for America’s famous antipoverty experiment. ‘Fraud by design.’

When the Trump administration targeted billions of dollars in federal welfare funds recently over fraud concerns, it singled out five Democratic-run states.

An examination by The Wall Street Journal found that the main federal aid program the administration is seeking to block, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, has long been plagued by poor financial oversight and questionable spending in states led by both Republicans and Democrats.

Auditors in numerous states, including Connecticut, Louisiana and Florida, have uncovered problems with TANF—once America’s primary welfare program for low-income families. Created three decades ago, it comprises more than $30 billion.

TANF funds flow annually through block grants to states, which have wide latitude to spend them and minimal reporting requirements—a structure critics say hampers oversight. Meant to allow states to be creative in serving needy families, it has resulted in a shift: States now award most of the money to nonprofits, companies and their own state agencies. An average of about 849,000 families got direct cash aid each month in fiscal 2025, federal data shows, down from about 1.9 million in fiscal 2010.

Audits have shown a range of problems, including states inaccurately reporting large expenditures and disbursing millions of dollars to contractors without tracking how the cash was spent. State and federal records show red and blue states alike have directed hundreds of millions of dollars to programs with tenuous—or no—connections to TANF’s goals.

Questionable expenditures have included college scholarships that benefited middle- or upper-income families, antiabortion centers, a volleyball stadium in Mississippi, and an Ohio job-training nonprofit where leaders and employees were later sentenced to prison after prosecutors said they used TANF money for vacations, real estate and salaries for people who didn’t work...

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TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: crime; fraud; tanf; theft; welfare

[blackdog]

A country lacking morals, ethics, and decency, should let nobody near its Treasury or institutions, for we are are a representative republic.

[riverrunner]

The government should no be involved in any of this.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

In case you missed it-—

Explaining How the US Government Commits Fraud Against its Citizens | Sit Down Interview with Nick Shirley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldF40H8TN5Q

It is a long video, but it does explain how the Biden Crime Syndicate changed the rules to make it easy to defraud the government.

[No name given]

At all.

[No name given]

That’s absolutely true.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4366019/posts

[PeterPrinciple]

Nothing changes till the money runs out. The question is how will it run out.......................

[PeterPrinciple]

Key Features of TANF

Financial Assistance: TANF provides monthly cash benefits to eligible families to help cover basic needs such as food, housing, and clothing.

Eligibility Requirements: To qualify for TANF, families typically must have a child under 18, meet income requirements (usually below 200% of the federal poverty level), and be residents of the state where they apply. Pregnant women are also eligible during the month before their due date.

Work Requirements: TANF encourages recipients to engage in work-related activities, including job training and education, to promote self-sufficiency. States have flexibility in setting work participation requirements.

Duration of Benefits: Most states limit TANF assistance to a maximum of 60 months (5 years) over a lifetime, although this can vary by state.
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