(WASHINGTON D.C.) — Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pressing USDA for information about previously approved funding for food banks and other emergency providers that has reportedly been frozen or canceled.
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Ag Committee, led 25 colleagues in pressing the USDA for answers as to USDA’s taking away funds from the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which they say hurts hungry Americans who already face high grocery prices and hurts American farmers getting squeezed by tariffs and other cuts to domestic markets.
“Canceling these funds could result in $500 million in lost food provisions to feed millions of Americans at a time when the need for food shelves is extremely high due to costly groceries and an uncertain economy,” the senators said in a letter to Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins. “This major shift in a program utilized by emergency food providers in every state in the nation will have a significant and damaging impact upon the millions of people who depend on this program for critical food assistance.”
House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02) also criticized the USDA’s decision to stop $500 million in funding meant for food banks nationwide when hunger and demand are increasing.
“People are struggling with grocery costs, and the decision to prevent $500 million worth of food from reaching local communities is reckless,” says Rep. Craig. “This comes on the heels of USDA cutting $1 billion in funding for family farmers to supply food banks with locally grown food – and all this at a time when Republicans are trying to cut SNAP by $230 billion. Make no mistake, all of these cuts will take even more money out of farmers’ pockets and increase stress on our food banks. The USDA is supposed to fight hunger and support farmers in America. Its recent actions are doing the exact opposite.”
Democratic lawmakers say that Republicans are pushing for a massive $230 billion cut to SNAP benefits in reconciliation and they say cutting support for community food banks while also slashing individual food assistance programs will increase hunger in America. Many Republican lawmakers contend that they are not cutting SNAP benefits in their process to try and complete a new five-year Farm Bill.
