Washington, D.C. — Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and the entire Senate Democratic Caucus have issued a public warning that recent Republican-backed budget measures could strip vital food assistance from millions of Americans.
In an open letter released this week, Senate Democrats accused their GOP colleagues of prioritizing tax breaks for the wealthy at the expense of working families struggling to afford groceries.
The letter comes in response to a budget resolution passed by Republicans in Congress that paves the way for significant cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which supports 42 million Americans.
The House budget proposes at least $230 billion in reductions, while the Senate version mandates a minimum of $1 billion in cuts—amounting to more than 20% of the program's funding.
“Cuts of this magnitude—or anything close to it—would be devastating to American families in every state,” the senators wrote. They emphasized that SNAP benefits seniors, children, veterans, and people with disabilities and warned that reduced funding would also harm farmers, manufacturers, truckers, and local businesses that rely on food assistance spending.
The letter highlighted SNAP’s broader economic impact, noting that every $1 in food assistance generates $1.50 in economic activity. For children, the return is even greater: $1 invested yields an estimated $62 in long-term benefits. In 2020 alone, SNAP supported 200,000 grocery industry jobs and nearly 45,000 roles in related sectors.
The senators concluded their appeal by urging the American public to stand against these proposed cuts, calling them “closed-door attempts to feed corporate and wealthy individuals’ greed by taking food assistance away for tens of millions of Americans.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.
