Media Contact:
Jordan Baker
jbaker@frac.org
202-640-1118
Statement attributable to Crystal FitzSimons, president, Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
WASHINGTON, July 3, 2025 — It is gut-wrenching that as the nation prepares to celebrate America’s birthday, House Republicans have decided to rip away the food assistance, health care, and other basic needs that support the independence of tens of millions of people in all corners of the country by passing (218–214) the Senate’s version of the budget reconciliation bill.
For months, a broad coalition of voices — anti-hunger advocates, state, community and faith-based leaders, people with lived experience, and countless others — have laid bare the devastating impacts this bill would unleash on families, farmers, food retailers, communities, and the overall economy. The Congressional Budget Office also estimates the bill will add $3.3 trillion to our national debt over the next decade.
The damage of this bill will be staggering. Multiple data sources have highlighted how tens of millions of working families with children as well as older adults, veterans, and people with disabilities will lose access to the nutrition they need for their health and well-being.
Members of Congress have been inundated with calls and emails urging them to do the right thing for America – but the pleas went unheeded by those who voted for the bill. They also ignored the many poll findings, such as the Fox News poll that found more than half of Americans opposed the bill.
Decades of progress in addressing America’s hunger crisis will be reversed. With billions of dollars being cut from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), our nation will see higher rates of hunger and health care costs. With states required to pay a portion of SNAP benefits for the first time in history, on top of being required to cover 75 percent of the cost to administer the program, we are likely to see higher taxes but with fewer services. Some states are expected to opt out of SNAP altogether.
All of this is happening so that billionaires will receive new tax breaks, a cruel juxtaposition as millions of our nation’s children will lose access to basic nutrition. Many will lose access to the free school meals that fuel their health and learning, and to the Summer EBT Program, which helps close the summer child hunger gap.
Today’s vote represents a betrayal — not just of evidence and reason, but of the people and communities who will be most directly and disproportionately affected. Those already struggling to make ends meet will now have an even tougher time as they may no longer be eligible for SNAP or will have their benefits reduced and will be forced to make impossible decisions, such as paying to keep the lights on or paying for food.
FRAC and its network of advocates from across the country will do everything we can to mitigate the harm. The passage of this bill is not the end — it is a call to action to ensure that we continue the fight to build a nation free from hunger.
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The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) improves the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and by advancing bold and equitable policy solutions. To learn more, visit FRAC.org and follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky.
