Key highlights:
- The Trump administration has proposed a rule that would strip SNAP benefits from 6.3 million people in 3.2 million households about 17 percent of all SNAP households.
- The cut amounts to $50.82 billion in reduced benefits, while administrative costs would actually rise by $1.24 billion, with states absorbing $928.5 million.
- 1.78 million children would lose automatic eligibility for school meals, and 5,500 women, infants, and children would be dropped from WIC.
- Forty-six states use the broad-based categorical eligibility mechanism the rule targets, and critics say it hits the working poor people working two or three jobs who still cannot make ends meet.
WASHINGTON I’ve covered safety net policy long enough to recognize a pattern. When an administration says it is “preserving benefits for the truly needy,” I reach for the regulatory impact analysis. This week, the Trump administration proposed a rule that would strip Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from 6.3 million people in 3.2 million households, roughly 17 percent of all SNAP households, by eliminating broad-based categorical eligibility.
The mechanism is technical, but the consequence is not. Broad-based categorical eligibility lets states streamline enrollment by deeming families eligible for SNAP if they already qualify for TANF or similar state assistance. Forty-six states, red and blue alike, use it because it reduces paperwork and error rates. The administration argues the policy lets people “bypass” SNAP’s income limits; critics note it lets working families with high rent and childcare costs access help without drowning in applications.
I keep thinking about what Gina Plata-Nino of the Food Research and Action Center told my colleagues: this hits “the working poor” people working two or three jobs who still cannot make ends meet. This is not the first round. Since the 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill” took effect, 5.5 million people have already lost SNAP, including roughly 2 million children. Enrollment has fallen to about 36 million.
The rule is a proposal, open for 30 days of public comment. It may be delayed or undone by the incoming Congress. But as a reporter, I have learned to watch what agencies put on paper, not what they say on television. On paper, this rule takes food from millions of households and calls it integrity.
