“We need to be prepared for a showdown on food security - and right now, we’re not ready,” said one House Democrat, who was granted anonymity in order to speak plainly about internal caucus matters.Īs POLITICO first reported last year, some Democrats have been particularly concerned about the leadership atop the House Agriculture Committee, which oversees SNAP and other federal food assistance programs.
She added many House Republicans, who are currently eyeing broad cuts across anti-hunger programs and other social spending, would “decimate” food assistance programs if given the chance.īut even though they know what’s coming, some House Democrats are quietly raising alarms about their lack of plans to push back on the GOP proposals, which are likely to come up during negotiations over the debt limit, federal budget and farm bill. All you have to do is look back over the years,” DeLauro said. “This is not something new, this go round. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations committee who’s had a series of budget talks with her Republican counterparts, noted this is a perennial fight. Jim McGovern, one of the biggest anti-hunger advocates in the House. “These guys talk about states’ rights all the time, except when it comes to poor people,” said Rep. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) reintroduced a bill in January that would raise the age for food assistance work requirements by a decade to 59.ĭemocrats, however, note the majority of people who receive SNAP benefits are already working and, at the moment, are grappling with surging food prices, a challenge exacerbated by the end of a pandemic-era increase in aid. Other GOP lawmakers are now pressing for similar work requirements to be part of any deal on the debt limit between the White House and the House GOP. Johnson hopes his proposal will be folded into the upcoming farm bill, which lawmakers will draft later this year, but it will face stiff resistance in the Democrat-controlled Senate. “We know that work is the only path out of poverty,” said Johnson, a member of the House Agriculture Committee whose family received SNAP benefits when he was a child growing up in Pierre, South Dakota. Supporters say enhancing work requirements as outlined in Johnson’s proposal is key to reducing cycles of perpetual poverty, and it will also save taxpayers money.
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