The Trump Administration's Continuing War on the Food Stamp Program

In the latest in its attempt to cut back on the social safety net, the Trump Administration has finalized new rules that restrict the availability of food stamps for those who need them. Under the guise of tightening work requirements for receiving food stamps, the Administration has finalized rules that can jeopardize food stamps for up to 700,000 people who currently receive them, making it harder for them to eat.

The Administration Has Tightened the Rules on Food Stamps

The rule is the latest in a series of initiatives by the Trump Administration to make write the food stamps program out of existence. While the Administration cannot eliminate the program known as SNAP on its own without Congressional approval, it can make rules to make it more burdensome for people to apply to the program, and that is precisely what it has been doing. The Trump Administration has already tried to change the application process to make it more difficult for people to complete the paperwork. This is but the latest of the Administration trying to bury programs that it does not like in paperwork in a virtual attempt to eliminate them.

The Administration does have the ability to make rules for the program since it is a federal program. While the states administer SNAP, they are subject to the rules that are imposed by the federal government since they are a condition that the state is subjected to when they take federal money. As a result, the federal government can use the rule making process to impose its own policy views on recipients of the program because it has the power of the purse.

The New "Able-Bodied" Adult Work Rules

These particular new rules limit the ability of "able-bodied" adults who do not meet work requirements to receive food stamps. Specifically, those who meet the rule's definition of "able-bodied" adults must work 20 hours every week in order to maintain continued eligibility for food stamps. Otherwise, they are limited to receiving three months of food stamp benefits over a 36-month period.

What this rule neglects is that many "able-bodied" adults cannot work for various reasons. Some people may have emotional disabilities that keep them from working steadily or holding down a job. Others may simply have difficulty finding a job in this economy. Alternatively, the recipient could have children and the cost of child care would exceed what the person may be able to make while they are working. Finally, the recipient may be required to spend time caring for a sick relative and not be able to work. Either way, the rule represents an overly simplistic and unsympathetic government approach that hurts people who need assistance the most.

Prepare for More Attacks on Food Stamps

While the Trump Administration has cast this rule change as something logical and reflecting its policy preference that people work, this will be by far the last attack on food stamp benefits for poor Americans. One can expect that the Trump Administration will continue to attack a program for which it has hostility so long as it is in power. There are additional rules on the way that will raise income thresholds and limit states' ability to accept people into the program. Since these are executive rules, they do not need Congressional approval. The only thing that can stop these rules is the courts, but they have not shown any inclination to overturn executive rules regarding food stamps. The only way to repeal these rules is in a new presidential administration since rules can always be repealed without the need for Congress to act.

What is truly alarming about this change is that eligibility for SNAP benefits is the gateway to many other necessary government benefits. For example, those who receive SNAP have their children automatically eligible for school lunches. The Trump Administration is clearly neglecting research that shows the benefits of SNAP that go far beyond feeding people. The program reduces criminal activity and improves education. However, the Trump Administration is trying to strangle the program in a purported attempt to save several billion dollars when it has cut trillions of dollars of taxes on the wealthy.

Unfortunately, there is little to be done about these rules absent a successful court challenge. They will start to take effect after the New Year, and the effects will soon be felt by the poor across the country.