On July 4th, President Trump signed the budget reconciliation package, H.R. 1, into law. This law makes sweeping cuts to nutrition and health care support for millions of people to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is one of the most effective tools the U.S. has to reduce hunger and support households with low incomes. Nowhere is this impact more critical than in rural America, where food insecurity, economic stagnation, and limited access to services intersect to create deep vulnerability. Yet, provisions in the recently enacted budget reconciliation law (H.R. 1, also known as OBBBA) — passed by a majority of Republicans in Congress and signed by President Trump on July 4, 2025 — undermine this vital program, hitting rural communities hardest, economically, socially, and physically.
Food insecurity takes a toll on maternal, infant, and child health.
In 2023, 47.4 million people — including 13.8 million children — lived in food-insecure households.
Food insecurity is linked to poor health and development and is associated with some of the most common and costly health problems in the U.S. For adults and pregnant women, its linked to fair or poor health status, pregnancy complications (e.g., gestational diabetes, iron deficiency), and depression (including maternal depression). For infants and children, food insecurity is especially detrimental to health, development, and well-being, with links to low birth weight, birth defects, more frequent colds and stomachaches, development risk, increased hospitalizations, and more.
Time limits are a cut to SNAP and ignore the structural and personal barriers that many SNAP recipients face — including unstable job markets, part-time work with insufficient hours, unpaid caregiving, and jobs that do not provide documentation needed to prove work activity. The reality is that many people affected by these policies are already working or trying to work but cannot meet the rigid requirements.
The first year of Summer EBT implementation, 2024, saw two Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) join 37 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories in participating in the program. Together, these two Tribes — Chickasaw Nation and Cherokee Nation — issued benefits to a large number of children who resided in their respective Tribal service area and who otherwise would not have received benefits, as Oklahoma had opted out of the program.