May 1, 2025 – While addressing agriculture journalists on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Republican leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees said that despite their party’s directive to cut billions of dollars in spending, they are committed to keeping current benefit levels in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which 42 million Americans currently receive each month.
“We’re not gonna’ reduce the amount of money that individuals are getting right now,” said Senate Chair John Boozman (R-Arkansas).
“We’re not gonna’ be cutting benefits,” echoed House Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pennsylvania). “We’re not gonna’ hurt people that are living in poverty, folks that quite frankly are struggling paycheck to paycheck that are really dependent upon this nutritional assistance.”
However, proposals on the table to deliver the cuts far-right lawmakers are demanding are still controversial and could push hungry people out of the program, anti-hunger experts say.
Republicans are looking to slash spending during budget reconciliation to pay for making tax cuts passed during Trump’s first term permanent. They are direction the Senate Ag Committee to find $1 billion in savings and the House Ag Committee to find $230 billion. The final number will be worked out later and the committees are scheduled to begin drafting their plans next week.
SNAP is the most likely place to find the cuts, as it represents more than $100 billion in federal spending annually. Democrats have been loudly pushing back on various proposals that have been floated on the Hill, including rolling back a Biden-era update that increased benefits.
