WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today sought to protect Veterans and many other Americans from going hungry because of cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) included in Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” (BBB) that Senate Republicans are rushing to jam through tonight. Duckworth’s effort would have instructed the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee to change the BBB to ensure it would not reduce or terminate SNAP benefits for Veterans, homeless individuals, former foster youth 24 years of age or younger or for parents with children under 18 years of age, but her proposal was blocked by Senate Republicans on a vote of 49-51.
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“Back when I was in high school, my family struggled. We had no money and some days no food, teetering on the brink of homelessness, never sure what tomorrow would bring. I was only elected Senator… I was only able to become an Army pilot… I probably only was able to finish high school because of basic needs programs like SNAP.
“Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are trying to snatch away these critical safety net programs like health care and SNAP from countless families—including Veterans, homeless people, former foster youth and many other Americans seemingly for no other reason than cruelty for cruelty’s sake—and to give a tax cut to Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies. I’m pissed off that they would look me in the eye on the Senate Floor and then block this critical proposal to help protect so many Americans from going hungry. It’s shameful.”
In Fiscal Year 2023, an average of 42.2 million individuals—and about 1 in 5 children—in 22.3 million households participated in SNAP each month. Monthly benefits are already insufficient, and averaged only $211.65 per person and $400.15 per household.
Under current SNAP rules, most adults aged 18 through 54 without children in their household can receive food benefits for just three months in a three-year period unless they show compliance with a 20-hour-per-week work requirement or prove they qualify for an exemption, such as having a disability—though Veterans, homeless individuals and former foster youth 24 years of age or younger have been exempt from those requirements.
The Senate bill eliminates these exemptions, terminating SNAP benefits for nearly 300,000 people in these populations. In addition, the SNAP program has long exempted parents from work requirements, but the Senate bill eliminates these exemptions for parents with kids over the age of 13.
Despite those exemptions continuing under even the House-passed BBB, Senate Republicans are seeking to remove them and limit SNAP benefits to these currently-protected populations. The Senate Republican bill would terminate SNAP benefits for at least 2.87 million people—including 1.2 million Veterans—and reduce benefits for tens of millions more.
