House Republicans are expected to caucus today to discuss a budget package that reportedly increases military spending while cutting domestic programs. The food stamp program is commonly mentioned as a target in government-wide cuts to domestic spending that could total $150 billion over 10 years, though the details of those proposed cuts are still unclear.
Lobbyists say that a spending outline could be approved next Wednesday by the Budget Committee, opening the possibility of a House vote before the end of the week and the Independence Day recess during the first week of July. While the House’s proposed cuts in domestic programs are much smaller than those proposed by the administration, they still could be painful.
Agriculture Committee leaders may feel particularly alarmed, since the White House has proposed large cuts in food stamps, crop insurance, and rural development—all part of the panel’s portfolio. Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway led the committee in a letter to budget writers that pointed to larger-than-expected savings from the 2014 farm law and argued against any cuts in farm bill programs. Cuts enacted in fiscal 2018, which begins on Oct. 1, would reduce the budgetary baseline for the 2018 farm bill.
Republicans, who control the Budget Committee as well as the House, “would modestly trim benefit programs such as food stamps,” said the Associated Press. According to lawmakers, the cuts in mandatory programs, “while not specified in the budget, would be intended to target anti-poverty programs, like food stamps and disability insurance,” said Politico.
“Democrats would be lock-stepped against this” if the GOP tries to rush to a vote on a package that cuts food stamps, disability programs, or Medicaid while putting more money into the military, said a liberal lobbyist.
Congress is supposed to agree on a budget resolution each year by April 15—income-tax filing day. The resolution is not binding, however, and in recent years, lawmakers have often not reached a bicameral agreement on time.
Food stamps are a perennial target for Republican budget-cutters, who routinely propose establishing stricter eligibility rules or converting food stamps, the major U.S. antihunger program, into a grant program, with states deciding who qualifies for benefits and what those benefits should be. Last month, the White House proposed a 25 percent cut in food stamps, totaling $193 billion over 10 years, along with a 36 percent cut in crop insurance and the elimination of 40 rural development programs.
“As House GOP leaders prepare to start action on next year’s congressional budget plan, they need to decide whether they want to proceed down this path,” wrote Robert Greenstein, head of the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in a commentary about Trump’s proposed cut in food stamps, which would let states decide on benefit levels. “Struggling families—including millions of working-poor families with vulnerable young children—would find themselves at the mercy of policymakers in whichever states they live.”
Some 42 million people received food stamps at latest count, said the USDA. It is the smallest caseload since July 2010, “mostly reflecting improved economic conditions,” said the antihunger Food Research & Action Center. Two-thirds of recipients are either children, elderly, or disabled.