“Our clarification does not impose new obligations on states. It simply restores the original meaning of the statute Congress enacted and ensures that DHS receives the information it is legally entitled to.
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JC
Joshua Craddock
Republican
Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel • District of Columbia
Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and author of the September 2026 opinion on state reporting duties under the 1996 welfare-reform law.
Statements (2)
“The mandatory reporting obligations … thus apply to all agencies within a state that participates in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Security Income programs subject to those requirements. States remain free to reevaluate their participation in TANF or SSI going forward in view of today’s opinion.