There’s no question President Trump wants work requirements to be part of social welfare programs; he signed an executive order a month ago calling for new or stronger work requirements for able-bodied adults in the programs. The president is expected to underline the point in a meeting today to discuss progress on the farm bill with the chairmen of the Senate and House Agriculture committees.
Trump’s entry into the farm bill debate could elevate the legislation to an election-year issue and reduce its chances for enactment before winter. The bill written by House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway is already the most partisan in years. It would require “work-capable” adults to work 20 hours a week or spend an equal amount of time in job training or workfare to receive food stamps. The states would be given $1 billion a year to pay for training programs.
A White House official told reporters that today’s meeting was intended to be a progress report. Congressional liaison Marc Short said work requirements are a priority for Trump, though he tamped down as “way too early” speculation that Trump would threaten a veto if the farm bill does not tighten work requirements for SNAP recipients.
Traditionally, the White House waits until legislation is under floor debate or nearing a final congressional vote before any public mention of serious objections to provisions in the bill. And normally the threat is expressed as “the president’s advisors would recommend a veto,” leaving maneuvering room for the chief executive until the end. The Wall Street Journal said a veto threat was likely after Trump meets Conaway and Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts. However, Roberts told The Hill newspaper that he does not expect to hear a veto threat.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was expected to attend today’s meeting.
A call by Trump for stronger work requirements might help Conaway round up enough Republican votes in the House to pass the farm bill in the face of solid Democratic opposition and put pressure on vulnerable senators to accept the Conaway approach. But opponents say the bill’s real shortcoming in the eyes of hard-line conservatives is its lack of reform of agricultural subsidies. The bill relaxes the limits on farm subsidies at the same time it toughens work requirements for SNAP recipients.
“There are people who don’t live or work on farms. … They live in Manhattan” but collect farm subsides because of weak USDA regulations, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut Democrat. “Why don’t we require them to till the soil, work the land, if they want to collect a farm subsidy?”
When rumors swirled of a veto threat, Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern, a leading House defender of SNAP, tweeted, “Wow: @realDonaldTrump will only sign #2018FarmBill if it has extreme cuts to #SNAP assistance that helps millions of Americans put food on table. This will only make #hunger worse. GOP cares more about tax cuts for rich than helping Americans in need.”
Roberts and Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the committee’s senior Democrat, have said repeatedly that they will not make major changes to SNAP in their version of the farm bill. Republicans have only a 51-49 margin in the Senate over Democrats, so bipartisan legislation has the best chance of getting passed.