LET THEM EAT CAKE

New Trump Administration Rule Could Block Food Stamps for Hundreds of Thousands of People

The move to limit state discretion over food assistance program would make hundreds of thousands ineligible for help.

The Trump administration will tighten access to federal food aid in a move that could block hundreds of thousands of people from the program by the middle of next year, The Wall Street Journal reports. Officials say the rule, which will reportedly take effect at the start of next April, will save the government billions of dollars and encourage more people to look for work. It will be the first of several Trump administration proposals to restrict access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP, which provides aid to over 36 million people. “Putting up barriers to food assistance will not incentivize or equip people with what they need to seek and maintain work,” wrote representatives for Oxfam America, a poverty group, in a 2018 letter opposing the proposals. The new rule will limit states’ ability to protect adults without children or dependents from federal work requirements tied to receiving assistance through the program, which was formerly administered via food stamps.