U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins threatened Tuesday to cut federal funding to Democratic-leaning states over what she said was their refusal to share SNAP program data with the Trump administration.

The administration “We will begin halting the transfer of federal funds to those states” starting next week “until they comply,” Rollins told President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Rollins said at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that the action is underway because those states are refusing to provide the data the department requested, such as the names and immigration status of aid recipients. He said cooperation is necessary to eradicate fraud in the program. Democratic states have filed lawsuits to block the requirement. Approximately 42 million low-income Americans, or 1 in 8, rely on SNAP to buy food. The average monthly benefit is approximately $190 per person, or a little over $6 per day. Rollins said her department needs state-by-state data on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps, “to eradicate this fraud and protect the American taxpayer.” Brooke Rollins said that in February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture asked all 50 states “for the first time to turn over their data to the federal government.” She said 29 “red states” complied, but 21 “blue states” continue to say they do not. States that are not complying include California, New York, and Minnesota, Rollins said. Among the affected states would be Massachusetts, where Governor Maura Healy said she has not received any notification from the Trump administration about withheld federal funds. However,Healey called Rollins' threat "truly appalling and cruel." "The Trump Administration is once again politicizing the possibility of working parents with children, seniors, and people with disabilities getting food," the governor said in a statement. "President Trump must order Secretary Rollins to release SNAP funds immediately and prevent more Americans from going hungry."