Congress is hurtling toward a budget deal that will have devastating consequences for millions of low-income people across the country. Many Americans, and perhaps even some policymakers, have no idea how destructive it really is.
Both the House and Senate budget reconciliation bills are filled with harmful provisions that would decimate the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In addition to hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to “SNAP,” as it is known, Senate Republicans quietly chose to remove protections that help some of the nation’s most vulnerable people access this program.
At a moment when hunger remains stubbornly high and food banks are stretched worryingly thin, these policies would slash our most effective anti-hunger program. While headlines may focus on topline numbers or political theatrics, here’s what’s really at stake: access to food for millions of Americans struggling to feed themselves and their families.
And by dropping language from the House-passed bill, Senate Republicans have actually made this even worse by singling out veterans, homeless people and former foster youth for even harsher treatment, all of whom, thanks to the Republicans, would be at greater risk of being driven even further into poverty and hunger..
In the past, both parties compromised and Congress created an exemption to SNAP’s harsh work requirements for these three groups, with Republicans conceding that these folks, at least, should not be punished with hunger simply because they’re unable to meet the arbitrary work benchmarks and the draconian reporting mechanics.
In fact, when challenged on the possibility of veterans losing SNAP benefits during last month’s committee markup, House Agriculture Chairman Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) stated clearly that “Our veterans are exempt from the SNAP work requirement, which is the law … and we’re not changing it.”
But Senate Republicans are now trying to quietly repeal even these small, commonsense exemptions. They didn’t debate it in committee. They didn’t announce it in a press conference. They didn’t defend it on the Senate floor. They just dropped it from their bill and hoped no one would notice.
Well, we noticed. We’re outraged. And we believe that the American public deserves to know what Republicans are trying to get away with.
When you hear “work requirements,” you should know that means “paperwork requirements.” And let’s be clear about what these so-called “work requirements” actually do. They don’t help people find jobs or create employment opportunities. They just cut people off from food.
That’s not policy. That’s cruelty by design.
And it happens to be short-sighted, too: Kicking people off SNAP doesn’t reduce poverty — it exacerbates it. At best, some people will be able to find emergency food providers who are already overwhelmed. Food insecurity doesn’t stay contained to individuals; it reverberates through communities, schools, and local economies.
In a properly functioning Congress, we would have had real hearings with expert voices on how the structural changes in these bills would impact millions of Americans nationwide so that elected officials could truly understand the ramifications of their actions.
Instead, these pieces of legislation were negotiated under the cover of darkness, and there has been no serious public debate about the consequences of these SNAP cuts. No honest reckoning with the fact that this bill would be taking food away from the mouths of those who sacrificed in uniform for this country, from those without a roof over their heads, from those who’ve braved the foster care system.
Every part of that contradicts the values that America was founded upon — and that Republicans claim to hold. For them, it might just be politics as usual — but they would do well to remember that there are real lives on the line.
If policymakers vote for this bill, they should at least understand what it would mean.
A vote for this bill tells your constituents that you accept the growing number of hungry people in this country. That you don’t care that over 47 million people in America are going hungry — in fact, that you are comfortable making it worse. That you endorse deep cuts to SNAP, a program that has been proven to help our economy during recessions.
And that you are okay with local charities, already at capacity, being forced to turn hungry people away, all so that the billionaires who play golf at Mar-a-Lago can pay less in taxes.
SNAP has always been one of the most effective, targeted and efficient programs we have. It deserves strengthening, not sabotage. Republicans must do better — they must vote no on this piece of legislation that redefines the word “cruelty.”
Abby J. Leibman is president and CEO of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is a Democrat from Illinois. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) is the top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
