After going dark for more than 40 days, causing anti-hunger programs to run out of money, the federal government is back open, and food benefits are being reinstated nationwide for low-income families. But there are still dark clouds on the horizon for the tens of millions of Americans who rely on the government to keep from going hungry.
That’s because the bill, which ended the longest government shutdown in history, won’t stop the $187 billion in planned cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, over the next 10 years.
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On Friday, nearly 1,500 nationwide, state, and community-based organizations sent a letter to Congress urging them to pass a bipartisan bill to reverse those cuts to SNAP funding. Several House and Senate Democrats are introducing the bill, which would repeal the unprecedented cuts mandated in the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) that President Donald Trump signed into law in July.
Historic Cuts Will Force States to Slash Benefits
For the first time, states will be forced to pay a share of SNAP benefits, a requirement that could increase their costs up to 75%. States will have to stretch already tight budgets — likely by slashing the number of families they can feed.
Roughly 42 million people who face hunger or food insecurity receive monthly SNAP benefits. Almost 28% of SNAP participants — approximately 10.2 million people — are Black. Participants receive an average of $187 a month.
The anti-hunger advocates who wrote to Congress argue that the upcoming SNAP budget cuts are the largest in history and will result in more Americans going hungry.
Crystal FitzSimons, president of the nonprofit Food Research & Action Center, says the SNAP cuts “will reverse decades of progress in the fight against hunger in America.”
If nothing is done, states “will be forced to radically cut the number of eligible families receiving food assistance, or find other ways to cut spending or increase taxes,” she says. “If states can’t pay the tab, they will be forced out of SNAP entirely, eliminating SNAP for everyone who is eligible. These cuts simply cannot stand.”
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The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which conducts financial analysis of Capitol Hill legislation, estimates that around 4 million people — including children, older adults, veterans, and individuals with disabilities — will see their food assistance taken away or cut substantially under the OBBA.
Since its inception in the 1960s, experts have said SNAP has become the nation’s most effective anti-hunger program. Studies show it can reduce a family’s risk of food insecurity by almost 30% and help keep millions of children above the poverty line.
SNAP also helps boost local economies: in 2023, the program accounted for nearly 10% of the roughly $1.4 trillion in gross revenue supermarkets generated that year.
But the program’s benefits lapsed Nov. 1 during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, putting pressure on food banks and social service agencies, as well as forcing millions of people to scramble for food.
The shutdown ended Nov. 12 when eight Democrats broke with their party and voted with Republicans to fund the government. Trump immediately signed the bill.
New Rules Could End Food Assistance for Millions
But reversing the forthcoming SNAP cuts law won’t be easy.
Among the other changes the OBBA makes to SNAP are work requirements for families with children aged 14 or older, older adults aged 55 to 64, and military veterans. In 12 states, the program will also restrict the foods families can purchase with SNAP.
Ty Jones Cox, vice president of food assistance at the nonprofit Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the cuts “will raise families’ grocery costs, taking food assistance away from millions of people, including children and veterans, and forcing unaffordable costs on states.”
When states can’t carry the financial burden, “they would be left with two choices — take SNAP benefits away from large numbers of people or end their SNAP programs entirely,” Cox said. “Congress must reverse course to prevent a hunger crisis of our own making.”
Finding Food: Websites, apps and social media
- Feeding America: A searchable database of food banks, pantries, soup kitchens, meal programs and other resources.
- Foodfinder: A free app to help food-insecure people find local free food resources. Once it pinpoints your location, it automatically gives a list of nearby options, including addresses and directions. Apple | Google
- Freedge: A network of public refrigerators in the U.S. and worldwide that allow communities to share food. These tend to be volunteer reported so some locations may not be on the list.
- Nextdoor: A social media app that lets people in the same neighborhood interact. It allows neighbors to discuss what is happening directly around their homes and is often used by people seeking specific services, items, or resources. Apple | Google
- Plentiful: A free app that provides local resources for people experiencing food insecurity. The app lists resources, agencies and food banks in the user’s area. Apple | Google or text “FOOD” to PANTRY (726-879).