Republicans Are Ripping a New Giant Hole in the Social Safety Net

"When Democrats caved this week to reopen the government, they hailed the decision as one that will finally end the chaos surrounding food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It was subject to a contentious legal battle, with multiple judges issuing court orders, contradictory federal guidance, and a short-lived fight at the Supreme Court, all because the Trump administration refused to pay out benefits during the shutdown."

"The reality is that the government reopening is not a sunshine-filled solution for SNAP, but rather a rude awakening to the fact that the food assistance program was quietly being dismantled long before the shutdown. Back in July when President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, SNAP was slashed-to the tune of $186 billion, according to an analysis by the Associated Press. A Harvard public health policy professor called it the largest cut to food assistance (in absolute terms) in American history. The legislation made major structural changes to who pays for SNAP and the program's eligibility rules, with states required to implement many of these changes by Nov. 1, 2025."

""One way to think about the One Big Beautiful Bill is that it could end SNAP in some states, and it certainly ends SNAP as a national entitlement that is there for people in good economic times and bad," Lauren Bauer, who is a fellow at the Brookings Institution and associate director of the Hamilton Project, told me. Bauer's work focuses on how social safety net policies impact the American economy, and she spoke with me to explain what exactly is happening to SNAP"

Government reopening did not restore SNAP protections and revealed longer-term policy changes that shrink the program. The One Big Beautiful Bill reduced SNAP funding by about $186 billion and enacted structural changes to funding responsibilities and eligibility rules. States must implement many changes by Nov. 1, 2025, which could remove millions from benefits and curtail access for roughly 41 million Americans who relied on SNAP last year. Legal battles and the administration's refusal to pay benefits during the shutdown produced immediate chaos, but the legislation initiated a broader dismantling of SNAP prior to the shutdown.

Read at Slate Magazine