The Trump administration is on the verge of making an end run around Congress, attempting to slash the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by fiat. Its latest effort is a proposed rule that is open for public comment until April 2. This rule would restrict SNAP eligibility by limiting states’ flexibility to help jobless or underemployed workers in struggling regions. By the administration’s own estimate, enacting this rule would substantially increase hunger and hardship, stripping at least 755,000 Americans of food assistance—though other estimates suggest it could be more than 1 million—and cut SNAP by $15 billion, slashing more than 178,000 jobs over the coming decade. The administration’s most recent attempt to cut SNAP comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s failed attempt to achieve similar SNAP cuts in the 2018 Farm Bill—cuts that Congress rejected on a bipartisan basis.
This proposed rule is not just cruel; it is also bad policy. Making people hungrier will not help them find work any faster; it will only kick underemployed and unemployed workers when they are down. Most working-age SNAP participants who are not receiving disability benefits are working, but they are often in unstable jobs with volatile schedules and low wages, making them especially likely to be affected by the rule. If Trump were serious about promoting work, he would embrace policies such as increasing the minimum wage and providing affordable, high-quality child care, both of which are popular across party lines. By contrast, cutting SNAP is deeply unpopular: Two-thirds of Americans oppose cuts to food assistance.
President Trump’s latest attempt to slash SNAP would be harmful to Americans across the country, but certain communities face particular risks. This column looks at six of the groups that Trump’s proposed rule would hit the hardest.