Bicameral Introduction Follows Trump Administration’s Shutdown Chaos and Effort to Strip Food Assistance
WATCH: Senator Luján Hosts Press Conference Announcing his SNAP Legislation
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) led the entire Senate Democratic Caucus in introducing the Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025. The legislation would repeal all the devastating Republican cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) made in the Republican Budget Betrayal. U.S. Representatives Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Agriculture introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Congress has upheld a 50-year bipartisan commitment that Americans should not go hungry, but the Republican Budget Betrayal breaks that promise with the largest SNAP cuts in history. To fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, Congressional Republicans approved cuts that the Congressional Budget Office estimates will eliminate $187 billion in food assistance over the next decade, even as grocery prices rise and President Trump’s tariff costs increase. These Republican cuts will take meals from millions of Americans, including children, seniors, veterans, workers, and people with disabilities, while harming farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and grocers who rely on SNAP dollars. Additionally, the Republican Budget Betrayal creates a massive unfunded mandate on state governments that could force deep cuts or even eliminate SNAP entirely.
“For half a century, our nation has stood behind a bipartisan promise: that no child, no senior, no veteran, and no working family should go hungry. Republicans broke that promise and ripped meals away from millions of Americans in their Budget Betrayal,” said Senator Luján. “SNAP puts food on the table for 42 million people – including one in every five New Mexicans – yet the Trump administration spent the shutdown trying to block families from receiving food assistance and make it as difficult as possible to access their benefits. We have a responsibility to protect these families. That’s why I am leading Congressional Democrats in introducing legislation to fully repeal the Republican cuts to SNAP and ensure no American family goes hungry.”
“SNAP isn’t an abstract policy or a number in a spreadsheet, it’s food, dignity and survival for 42 million Americans,” said Leader Schumer. “This summer, the Republican “Big, Ugly Bill” made the single largest cut to federal food assistance in our nation’s history. And during the Republican shutdown, the Trump administration weaponized hunger, blocking families from receiving SNAP benefits that Congress had already funding. Democrats are fighting back. Today, we introduced legislation to reverse these disastrous and deadly cuts and restore food security for millions of Americans. We will keep fighting until every family has the basic security and dignity of food on the table.”
“From gutting SNAP in their Big Beautiful Betrayal of a bill to refusing to provide food assistance to families in need during the shutdown, this Administration has taken every opportunity to make it harder for Americans to put food on the table,” said Senator Klobuchar, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. “With this legislation, we will keep fighting every step of the way to restore food assistance to families in need and ensure the 42 million Americans — including veterans, seniors and children — who count on SNAP don’t go to bed hungry.”
“Children, seniors, and low-income families will go hungry because of the Republican cuts to SNAP. This is yet another heartbreaking consequence of the Republican agenda to fund tax breaks for the ultrarich while working families struggle,” said Senator Merkley. “Under Trump, it is always the red carpet for billionaires and red tape for families. I’ll keep fighting to reverse these devastating cuts.”
“At every opportunity, Republicans have chosen to target and decimate the programs that feed people. The Big Beautiful Bill implemented the largest cut to SNAP in history – putting the most vulnerable at higher risk of hunger,” said Congresswoman Hayes. “Republicans have proven that cruelty is the point. During the government shutdown, all of America watched as they once again chose to use hunger as a weapon and blocked emergency funding for SNAP – marking the first ever lapse in funding. With the Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act we can reverse the damage caused by this legislation and restore the nearly $200 billion eliminated from SNAP.”
“President Trump has spent his first year in office repeatedly attacking our nation’s most effective anti-hunger program at a time when his tariffs are contributing to record food prices. His Big Ugly Bill cut SNAP – a basic needs food assistance program – by $187 billion, taking food away from millions of hungry American seniors, children, people with disabilities and veterans. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand up for our vulnerable neighbors and help to pass the Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act,” said Representative Angie Craig, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Agriculture.
Supporting quotes can be found here.
Additionally, earlier this week, nearly 1,500 national, state, and community-based organizations joined a letter voicing support for this effort.
SNAP is a lifeline for over 42 million Americans, including 16 million children, 8 million seniors, 4 million people with disabilities, and 1.2 million veterans. In New Mexico, more than 450,000 people rely on SNAP benefits to feed their families. This includes more than 65,000 seniors and nearly 200,000 children across the state.
During the government shutdown, Senator Luján led the Senate Democratic Caucus in introducing legislation that prevents the Trump administration from illegally withholding available funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). During debate on the Republican Budget Betrayal, Senator Luján spearheaded efforts to reverse the bill’s drastic cuts to food assistance.
Together with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, Senator Luján convened a Spotlight Forum titled “Hunger by Design: The GOP’s Assault on SNAP” to underscore the devastating impact of Congressional Republicans’ plan to gut SNAP.
In addition to Senator Luján, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Ranking Member Klobuchar, and Ranking Member Merkley, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
The full bill text of the legislation can be found here.
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