Millions Have Lost SNAP Benefits Due To Trump Overhaul

I guess President Donald Trump’s primary goal is to ensure more Americans are broke, sick, and hungry. An estimated 4 million people have lost Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as a result of changes the Trump administration made to the program. 

NPR reports that SNAP has seen a rapid decline in enrollment and participation since Trump’s “Big, beautiful, bill” became law last July. The law implemented new work requirements for anyone with a child over the age of 14, former foster children, veterans, and even people aged 55 to 64. What makes the changes particularly cruel is the fact that most people on SNAP already work in part-time, low-income jobs. It’s just hard to make that new 80-hour monthly threshold on a part-time job. I say that as someone who also works part-time in a job where I’m contractually limited to under 40 hours a month.

Starsky Wilson, the president of the Children’s Defense Fund, told NPR that the speed of the tax law’s impact has shocked him. “We’re upset about how quickly this has happened,” Wilson told NPR. “There are some supports that are still staged to go away later this year. So there could be an even greater sense of desperation among children and their families as we come to the end of this year.”

As if the work requirements weren’t already having an adverse impact, the Trump administration is set to implement changes to SNAP’s funding model this October. The federal government is now requiring states to allocate millions in additional funding to keep SNAP up and running. If a state can’t afford to provide the extra funding, there’s a real chance SNAP may just stop being provided in the state. There simply aren’t enough food banks or supplemental government programs to help mitigate the impact of SNAP completely disappearing. 

“ There’s no replacement for SNAP if a state gets rid of it,” Wilson told NPR.

The Trump administration’s SNAP overhaul couldn’t have come at a worse time. Wage growth already wasn’t keeping pace with inflation, the job market has become a parody of itself over the last three years, and housing affordability is an issue that is only worsening. Yet that didn’t stop Trump from launching a war with Iran that has had a profoundly negative impact on the American economy. 

Gas prices continue to hover around $4 and above, housing prices have hit their highest level in decades, and more people are going into debt to afford groceries. If this is the strain facing what would traditionally be considered the middle class, you can only imagine how hard it’s been for the working poor who can’t even rely on SNAP benefits anymore to make ends meet. 

What makes this all so insulting is that we have the money; there’s no need for people to suffer. We’ve got billions of dollars to fight an unnecessary war in Iran, subsidize Israel’s campaign in Gaza, and potentially give to people who attempted an insurrection, but feeding hungry kids is a bridge too far. Tell me again how this administration is putting America first. 

SEE ALSO:

Second Appeals Court Rules SNAP Benefits Must Be Fully Distributed

Federal Judge Blocks New Trump Restrictions For SNAP Benefits

Trump Administration Appeals Order To Distribute SNAP Benefits In Full

25 States Sue Trump Administration Over SNAP Benefits

Millions Of People Have Lost SNAP Benefits Due To Trump Overhaul was originally published on newsone.com