Washington, D.C. — Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture under President Donald Trump made clear its intention to appeal a federal judge’s stay to delay the implementation of a rule that would strip hundreds of thousands of people of food assistance benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
In response, Alexandra Cawthorne Gaines, vice president of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
At a time when the United States is experiencing the worst unemployment and food security crisis since the Great Depression, the Trump administration is working to make work reporting requirements for nutrition assistance even more draconian. Before the pandemic, the Trump administration’s Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents rule was already projected to take food off the tables of nearly 700,000 people who rely on SNAP. Now, following a month when 20.5 million Americans lost their jobs, it may cause hundreds of thousands more people to go hungry.
States are reporting record-high SNAP applications. Every day, we’re seeing more people join modern-day bread lines at increasingly overwhelmed food banks. SNAP is a proven way to put food on the tables of struggling families. The Trump administration’s repeated attempts to block access to the program are beyond cruel. But now, during an unemployment crisis, imposing more stringent work reporting requirements for food assistance recipients defies both logic and human decency.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Julia Cusick at [email protected].
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