Two GOP governors issued executive orders on Tuesday asking the federal government to allow them to cut soda and candy from food stamp benefits as part of the broader Republican Make America Healthy Again agenda. 

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders submitted waivers to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to alter the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in their states to block beneficiaries from purchasing unhealthy foods. 

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Rollins said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that she would move “very, very quickly” to approve the waivers, adding that she is “100% certain that these changes will be nothing but positive for those underserved communities that are food challenged.” 

Braun, at an event Tuesday alongside federal Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Medicare and Medicaid chief Mehmet Oz, told reporters that the order reflects “a new approach to health policy in the state of Indiana, focused on empowering everyone to live a healthier, happier, longer life.”

Oz, Kennedy, and Braun cited improving nutrition and the overall health of citizens as a key tool for lowering healthcare costs.

“Today, we’re the fourth-most obese country in the world, and we have something that is unique in human history. We have people who are obese and at the same time malnourished because the food that we’re eating is not nutrient-dense anymore,” Kennedy said in Indiana on Tuesday.

Two in 5 adults in the United States are medically obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Braun’s executive order cited that children enrolled in SNAP consume 43% more sugary drinks than children not enrolled in the program with similar income levels. 

“More SNAP money is spent on sugary drinks and candy than on fruits and vegetables,” Braun said. “That changes today.”

Sanders said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that her goal is to “promote healthier lifestyles” but “not to hurt any industry.”

“No one is saying you can’t have a Diet Coke or a candy bar,” Sanders said. “We’re saying you can’t do it with taxpayer money.”

Indiana changes SNAP work requirements and Medicaid eligibility

Among the nine executive orders Braun signed on Tuesday was a directive to remove any recipients of SNAP if they were not already beneficiaries of cash-based assistance or other state-managed social welfare programs. 

“SNAP is intended to help our neighbors who have fallen on hard times, but we also need to encourage their long-term self-sufficiency so they can thrive and benefit their communities,” Braun said during the press briefing. 

An additional SNAP-related executive order established work requirements for able-bodied adults on the program, even for parents of school-aged children.

Federal SNAP rules require that recipients work, pursue job training, or volunteer at least 20 hours per week unless they have dependent children in the home or are between 55 and 59. But under Braun’s executive order, only parents with children under age 6 would be exempt from work requirements.

The executive order highlights that 170,000 food stamp enrollees are not subject to existing federal work requirements for SNAP, but Indiana has a labor shortage of 138,000 open jobs, the vast majority of which do not need prior experience or a college degree. 

Braun also issued a directive for state healthcare agencies to begin eligibility redeterminations for Medicaid enrollees in the state, which Braun said has not been done in the Hoosier State since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. 

Nearly 2 million low-income Indiana residents receive healthcare coverage through Medicaid. About 600,000 receive SNAP benefits.

Braun’s executive order on Medicaid highlights that the program is the largest line item in the state’s budget and is expected to increase by $2 billion over the next two years. Medicaid beneficiaries in the state between 2020 and 2023 were enrolled in the program on self-attested income information without verification of eligibility by the state. 

Oz said the increasing pressure facing state budgets because of Medicaid is a nationwide problem that threatens the integrity of the program. 

“That’s the part that’s most concerning because this is a commitment we have made to our most vulnerable, and if it’s doubling, as it has, I am told, in the last four years, then it’s not a sustainable program,” Oz said. “It’s one that desperately needs to be saved and strengthened.” 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENTS

Alongside the eligibility changes to both SNAP and Medicaid, Braun signed several other executive orders aimed at improving the overall health of Hoosiers, including launching studies into the negative consequences of artificial food additives and the underlying causes of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. 

“It’s a monumental day, not just in Indiana, but for this great nation because nine executive orders addressing MAHA initiatives, I think, breaks the record,” Oz said.