Trump SNAP Cuts Spark Food Insecurity in Traditionally Republican States

Former Treasury advisor Steve Rattner says participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fell by 5 million people during President Donald Trump’s second term, leaving at least 1.5 million children without food assistance. The drop is most pronounced in states that traditionally vote Republican, creating acute hunger emergencies in places such as Arizona and a cluster of Southern and Southwest states.

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The administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced the SNAP budget by $186 billion over ten years, the largest cut in the program’s history, and introduced stricter work-requirement rules for adults aged 55-64 and for parents of children over 14. The act also shifted many administrative costs to state governments and increased paperwork, creating bottlenecks that further limit access. SNAP currently serves more than 42 million Americans each month—about one in eight U.S. residents—with 70 percent of participants being elderly, disabled, or children, according to Harvard public-health policy professor Sara Bleich.

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• 5 million fewer SNAP participants since the start of Trump’s second term (attributed to Rattner).

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• 1.5 million of those lost participants are children.

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• $186 billion cut to SNAP funding over a decade (One Big Beautiful Bill Act).

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• SNAP reaches 42 million people monthly; 70 percent are vulnerable groups (Bleich).

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• USDA data show the highest food-insecurity rates in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, Nevada, and New Mexico—eight of which voted for Trump in 2024, with Nevada’s electors split.

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• “Over 5 million low-income Americans — including at least 1.5 million children — have lost access to food assistance due to Trump's SNAP cuts last year,” — Steve Rattner, former treasury advisor

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