Looks like it is time to shower money on farmers again [View all]

In an all-too-familiar move, House Republicans are proposing to drastically cut food assistance for poor Americans in order to give well-heeled Americans even more money and to shore up support for President Donald Trump. In other words, it’s business as usual.

The bill would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other federal nutrition assistance programs by a whopping $290 billion over the next decade, according to the draft text of the agricultural portion of their reconciliation bill. That’s how Republicans have decided to meet the target of $230 billion in cuts.

Why are they proposing $290 billion in cuts when only $230 billion was required? Well, because the administration needs to keep farmers—some of Trump’s staunchest backers—from fleeing the coop. That extra $60 billion would go toward strengthening the safety net for farmers, including commodity programs and crop insurance.

The proposed cuts are brutal. The work-requirement age for able-bodied adults without dependents would jump from 54 to 64, meaning that people needing nutrition assistance would need to work well into their 60s to get the absurdly meager nutrition benefits the federal government provides.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/13/2322095/-Looks-like-it-is-time-to-shower-money-on-farmers-again