MAGA Uses Hunger as a Political Weapon

Starving children is a new low

Donald Trump, like autocrats around the globe, is weaponizing food supply. He is prepared to let more than 40 Million Americans go hungry to pressure Democrats to capitulate on the shutdown and accede to his plan to snatch health insurance away from tens of millions of people.

Photo by George Pagan III

The New York Times reports, “With no end in sight to the nearly monthlong federal government shutdown, funding for the nation’s largest food assistance program, known as SNAP, will disappear at the start of November, according to the Department of Agriculture.”

There is money available to continue SNAP payments, but the Trump regime will not use it to feed hungry families.

“On Friday, the Trump administration said in a memo that it would not tap into contingency funds to keep payments flowing to states. That means that the roughly 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — may soon have to find other ways to feed themselves and their families.”

In many cases, alternatives to SNAP will be unavailable since states and localities lack funds while charities cannot scale up to meet the food deficit. “Anti-hunger organizations and food banks say the surging demand will almost certainly exceed their capacity to respond.”

There is no excuse for shutting off food benefits. Sharon Pratt, a former Office of Management and Budget employee, wrote for the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities:

In fact, the Administration is legally required to use contingency reserves — billions of dollars that Congress provided for use when SNAP funding is inadequate that remain available during the shutdown — to fund November benefits for the 1 in 8 Americans who need SNAP to afford their grocery bill.

The Administration itself admits these reserves are available for use. It could have, and should have, taken steps weeks ago to be ready to use these funds. Instead, it may choose not to use them in an effort to gain political advantage.

Moreover, the government has “legal transfer authority — the same authority it already used to provide additional funds to WIC — to supplement the contingency reserves, which by themselves are not enough to fund families’ full benefits.”

Making these exact arguments, a group of Democratic senators headed by Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) wrote to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to demand release of SNAP funds. They reiterated that USDA could “use the contingency funding that is available for SNAP” and/or the “interchange authority” that allows shifting funds from other food programs. They wrote:

USDA should explore all legal means to augment funds to pay the full amount of SNAP benefits in November. Americans are already struggling with the rising cost of groceries, and they cannot afford a sudden lapse in grocery assistance. We urge you to immediately communicate to states and committees of jurisdiction the USDA’s plans to disburse the contingency funding to state agencies and utilize all available legal authorities so that American families can get benefits without interruption.

Some Senate Republicans know the regime’s insistence that it cannot continue SNAP benefits is a lie. A group of high-profile Senate Republicans “are publicly saying Congress needs to fund SNAP whether or not Democrats relent on overall government funding, lest millions [go] without food aid before Thanksgiving,” Politico reported. “Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said in a brief interview Monday about supporting a standalone SNAP bill… Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins and a handful of other Republican senators have signed on to a bill from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to fund the program, and they are pushing for a vote this week.” So far, Trump’s Republican lackeys are preventing a floor vote, which only underscores MAGA’s deliberate plan to use starving children and the elderly for political advantage.

Meanwhile, governors of both parties have sounded the alarm. Gov. Maura Healy (D) of Massachusetts decried the upcoming food aid cutoff for more than 1.1 million Massachusetts residents (about a third are children or people with disabilities, over a quarter of whom are seniors) in a written statement that pointed out that presidents in prior shutdowns have always continued SNAP payments. Gov. Wes Moore (D) in Maryland issued a similar warning; that 680,000 Maryland residents (over 270,000 children) will lose SNAP benefits.

Red states such as Arkansas, Indiana, and Mississippi are among the 25 states that told Politico that they too would stop checks. In Virginia, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency, advising that 850,000 Virginians will lose their food benefits. Gov. Phil Scott (R) from Vermont pleaded, “Even with state efforts, the lack of federal SNAP funding will disrupt the lives of over 63,000 Vermonters and could cause real harm.”

On Tuesday, “More than two dozen states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over its recent refusal to fund food stamps during the government shutdown, seeking to spare roughly 42 million people from hunger and financial hardship starting in a matter of days,” the New York Times reported. “The states, including officials in Arizona, California and Massachusetts, asked a federal judge to force Washington to tap emergency reserve money so that families would not see an interruption to their benefits.”

But rather than encouraging that we head off a hunger pandemic, USDA put up a crass partisan statement on its website reiterating the already debunked lie that Democrats are keeping the government closed “to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures.” The screed also falsely suggests SNAP payments can only resume when the government reopens. Even in the midst of a shutdown, Republicans could dispense SNAP benefits; they choose not to. Instead, Trump is yucking it up on his Asia travels, proceeding with his hideous ballroom project, and accepting a private “donation” to pay military troops. (Any tech bros want to pay for food for starving children?)

Beyond the immediate cutoff, the big, ugly bill will permanently strip food aid from millions of people. It will slash $186B from SNAP, by far the biggest cut in food assistance in history. As a result, farmers would lose an estimated $24B over the next decade. .

The big, ugly bill will further force states to absorb 5-15% of the cost of SNAP (depending on their error rate), money many of them do not have. Moreover, SNAP’s work requirement, which currently applies to recipients up to 54 years old, will apply to those up to 65 (regardless of how long they have been out of the workforce). The changes will also impose work requirements for parents with children over the age of 14. Even homeless veterans will lose coverage.

While undocumented immigrant are not eligible for SNAP, the bill also removes from eligibility certain legal residents such as refugees, those granted asylum, and certain survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking.

The Trump regime’s cruelty knows no bounds, whether in pursuit of short-term advantage in the shutdown or in the big, ugly bill’s despicable trade-off (taking away healthcare insurance and food from millions to partially pay for tax cuts for the rich). Americans must decide if they will allow Trump and his enablers to starve millions of their neighbors, including children.