SNAP Cuts: What Would Change and Who Would Be Affected by the Republican Bill?

House Republicans have unveiled a proposal to drastically cut funding for the nation's largest anti-hunger program by about $290 billion, as part of their broad plan to turn President Trump's agenda into legislative reality.

The bill released by the Republican-led House Agriculture Committee would substantially reduce federal government spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a public benefit that helps more than 42 million Americans pay for food, according to a report by Yahoo! News.

Republicans on the committee argue that reforms are needed to "ensure that SNAP works as Congress intended," by rooting out waste, increasing ability and controlling costs.

Democrats' condemnation of the proposal

"It is harmful to families, harmful to farmers and harmful to the country. Increasing hunger to enrich billionaires is just plain wrong," Ohio Representative Shontel Brown said in a statement last week.

The Republican Party's plan to cut SNAP funding is part of a much larger effort to a budget bill that would cut spending on a long list of programs, including Medicaid and tax incentives for green energy, to offset trillions of dollars in tax cuts.

Through the SNAP benefits, the government provides money directly to people who would otherwise struggle to feed themselves or their families.

Participation in SNAP has increased dramatically over the past few decades, as has its cost. In 2000, the government spent about $17 billion to 17 million SNAP recipients.

Last year, nearly 42 million people received benefits totaling more than $100 billion.

Eligibility varies by state, but in general, SNAP is available to people who have incomes below a certain threshold or who have no income.

The amount of money a person receives depends on the size of their household, their income and other factors.

Since the program was founded after the Great Depression, the federal government has funded 100% of SNAP benefits, but the Republican plan would require all states to contribute at least 5% of the money beginning in 2028, with a provision that could require them to cover a considerably larger amount.

The financial burden on states could increase by as much as 25% if they make too many mistakes in istering the program. In 2023, 28 states had error rates that would have forced them to fund a quarter of SNAP funds under the new plan, according to federal data.

Who would be affected by the Republican Party's project?

At first glance, total spending on SNAP would not change under the Republican plan, states would simply be asked to increase their contribution to complete the funding.

However, many experts predict that this would inevitably lead to states cutting benefits or tightening eligibility rules, meaning that fewer people would receive help.

A recent analysis by the Urban Institute estimated that a 10% overall reduction in federal SNAP funding to states would drive nearly 900,000 Americans into poverty.

Hunger is a widespread problem in the United States, but it is especially concentrated in certain areas of the country. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 47 million Americans, representing 13% of all U.S. households, are food insecure.

These rates are much higher in some states, especially in Republican states in the South. Large states such as California and Texas collect much more money from the federal government than smaller states, but they also have large budgets that would presumably give them more opportunities to cover the additional cost of keeping the program fully funded if the federal contribution were reduced.