WASHINGTON — Republicans will seek a dramatic change to federal food benefits to help pay for trillions in tax cuts as part of what they call the “big, beautiful bill” enacting President Donald Trump’s policy vision.
Under a proposal unveiled Monday, the federal government would ask states to shoulder part of the $100 billion annual cost of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, something many state governments would struggle to do.
“For far too long, the SNAP program has drifted from a bridge to support American households in need to a permanent destination riddled with bureaucratic inefficiencies, misplaced incentives, and limited accountability,” House Agriculture Committee chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) said in a press release.
Republicans have long complained that states took advantage of supposedly lax eligibility rules to enroll as many people in SNAP as possible.
“This portion of the One Big, Beautiful Bill restores the program’s original intent, offering a temporary helping hand while encouraging work, cracking down on loopholes exploited by states, and protecting taxpayer dollars while supporting the hardworking men and women of American agriculture,” Thompson said.
The SNAP cuts are an important part of the all-encompassing domestic policy bill Republicans hope to land on the president’s desk this summer. A permanent extension of temporary household tax cuts makes up the heart of the bill, with the tax cuts’ $5 trillion cost partially offset by the cuts to SNAP and Medicaid.
House committees will hold votes on sections of the bill this week before it can be stitched together and passed through the House as one giant package. Cuts to social programs are crucial for the support of far-right lawmakers keen on both cutting spending and making poor people more willing to accept low-wage work.
Thompson’s committee envisions a fundamental change to SNAP benefits, which are entirely funded by the federal government, with states handling some administrative costs. Starting in 2028, states would have to cover at least 5% of the cost of benefits, with a greater burden on states that have higher rates of erroneous payments. The cost-sharing would give states a strong incentive to cut enrollment.
The bill also expands SNAP’s work requirement to include able-bodied adults in their late fifties and early sixties; the cutoff was previously at 55. And it saves tens of billions by disallowing the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, from increasing benefits beyond inflation. Former President Joe Biden enacted a permanent benefits increase in 2021, prompting Republicans to complain he’d overstepped his authority.
Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), the committee’s top Democrat, said Monday that the overall $230 billion reduction in SNAP spending “will take food away from seniors, children, veterans and people with disabilities when costs are already too high.”
More than 20 million households receive monthly SNAP benefits, averaging $353. The money goes on debit cards that can be used for almost any food item at a grocery store, except alcohol.
Republicans have long sought changes to SNAP, including by tightening eligibility for unemployed adults without dependents or disabilities, but they’ve often faltered in their efforts thanks to strong support for the nutrition program from farm-state lawmakers. On Capitol Hill, the program is usually paired with farm subsidies rather than tax cuts.
Thompson has previously resisted dramatic changes to SNAP and acknowledged earlier this month that cost-sharing will be “pretty difficult to do because most states have balanced budget amendments.”