SNAP: Millions Have Lost Benefits Due To Trump Changes
SNAP: Millions Of People Have Lost Benefits Due To Trump Changes [Op-Ed]
Last year’s Big, Beautiful Bill included some of the largest changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in decades. Since this is the Trump administration we’re talking about, none of these changes were for the better. Recent data show that SNAP enrollment has declined by over 13% in the last 12 months.
AP reports that SNAP enrollment fell from 42.2 million in May 2025 to 36.6 million in May, a drop of more than 13% in a year. While this is preliminary data, the decline is far steeper than what the Trump administration originally estimated. Several factors have led to this decline.
One of the primary drivers of the decline in SNAP beneficiaries is stricter work requirements implemented by the Big, Beautiful Bill. Under the new rules, people must work 80 hours a month to receive SNAP benefits. Veterans, the unhoused, young adults who aged out of foster care, and adults aged 55-64 are no longer exempt from the work requirements. These changes could not have come at a worse time, as the job market is stagnant, with nearly a quarter of U.S. workers being functionally unemployed.
That 80-hour threshold isn’t easy to hit if you’re working a part-time job, especially if you have one that limits how many hours you can work a week. I work a part-time job outside of writing, and I’m limited to a max of 19 hours per week. So someone like me would be just short of meeting the new work requirements for SNAP benefits.
Despite evidence showing that people are being forced off SNAP instead of leaving due to improved economic prospects, conservatives have tried to argue that this decrease is a positive.
“If there are people that are leaving the welfare rolls because they’re working and they’re moving forward,” said Rachel Sheffield, a research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, which pushed for stricter requirements for SNAP, “that would be a step forward.”
Except that’s not what’s happening. People are losing their benefits because they’re being kicked off the program.
Another factor driving people off SNAP is simply that the new rules are such a dramatic overhaul that states have struggled to implement them. This has particularly impacted my home state of Arizona, which has seen the biggest decline in SNAP beneficiaries.
From AP:
In Arizona, enrollment plummeted by 55% from April 2025 to April 2026 — the biggest drop in the country, with more than 400,000 fewer people getting benefits now.
The state said the drop was driven largely by the state’s own struggles putting new federal requirements in place.
“Implementing the federally mandated changes triggered unprecedented call volumes and administrative hurdles, including additional verification requirements, creating real barriers for applicants,” said Brett Bezio, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Economic Security.
Bezio said hiring more staff and introducing ways for people to submit documents online have stemmed the enrollment drop in recent months as the state has reduced the chance for people who qualify to lose benefits.
Lastly, the new rules changed the maximum amount of money a person can make to be eligible for SNAP. If a single person makes over $1,696 a month, or a family of four earns more than $3,483, they are no longer eligible for SNAP. Considering that Trump’s misguided war in Iran has made inflation far outpace wage growth, these restrictions are not reflective of the economic reality facing most Americans.
It’s worth noting that Trump’s Cabinet has one of the highest concentrations of multimillionaires of any administration in American history. These decisions aren’t being made by people who truly understand what the economic situation is for the average American, let alone the working poor who rely on SNAP benefits.
So now we’re in a situation where millions of Americans are going to face food insecurity to subsidize tax breaks for rich assholes.
Trump truly is the hero the working class needs. < /sarcasm>
SEE ALSO:
Millions Of People Have Lost SNAP Benefits Due To Trump Overhaul
Federal Judge Blocks New Trump Restrictions For SNAP Benefits
SNAP: Millions Of People Have Lost Benefits Due To Trump Changes [Op-Ed] was originally published on newsone.com
