The House released a fiscal 2025 budget resolution Tuesday that would direct the Agriculture Committee to cut $230 billion over 10 years, an amount that would likely require a significant reduction in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
After weeks of talks, the House Budget Committee dropped its “one big, beautiful” bill that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and President Donald Trump have pushed for. The draft resolution, which will be marked up in committee on Thursday, would provide additional funds for border security, the military and tax policy.
The resolution is a blueprint for a later reconciliation bill that would be needed to actually enact the spending reductions and increases, and tax cuts.
Specifically, the resolution calls for $100 billion in new military spending, and $90 billion for the border, while allowing for $4.5 trillion in reduced tax revenue over 10 years.
The proposal would also raise the debt limit by $4 trillion.
House Ag Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., said in an interview that cutting $230 billion would require reducing benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, but he expressed confidence the Senate wouldn't accept a cut of that size.
“I didn't give them that number. They came up with that number on their own,” he said of the Budget Committee.
The Senate “is going to insist on a lower number, something within the window of what is possible.”
A list of possible budget savings laid out by the House Budget Committee in January including slashing the cost of SNAP by more than $274 billion by changes to the Thrifty Food Plan, the economic model used to estimate food costs.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has estimated that repealing the Biden administration update to TFP would cut SNAP by over $250 billion over ten years and reduce benefits for all SNAP participants from $6.20 to $4.80 per person, per day on average.
Limiting future updates would cut benefits for all participants by over $30 billion over the next decade, according to CBPP.
Republicans have previously said there was a lack of consensus on reforms to SNAP, including potential adjustments to work requirements.
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Medicaid is also a likely target for cuts. Republicans have been pushing to impose work requirements on recipients, and the budget resolution would require the House Energy and Commerce Committee to cut spending by $880 billion over 10 years. Rural health care providers rely disproportionately on Medicaid.
According to the Budget Committee list, Medicaid work requirements would save $120 billion. Imposing per capital caps on the program would cut $918 billion. Other ideas could save as much as $690 billion.
The top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, Angie Craig of Minnesota, said the cut to SNAP that would be required by the budget plan would ultimately jeopardize prospects for passing a new farm bill.
“A bipartisan farm bill has always been a coalition between the farmers who produce the food and Americans who need a helping hand. Today, it appears House Republicans are proposing to cut funding for hungry children, seniors and veterans to help partially pay for their tax bill,” she said in a statement.
“Taking $230 billion out of the food economy hurts the farmers who grow our food, the truckers who move it, the processors who package it and the grocery stores that sell it. Cutting farm bill nutrition programs does not make life affordable for everyday people.”
Wednesday night, the Senate Budget Committee advanced the first of its two budget resolutions. In a 11-10 party line vote, the panel reported the package to the full chamber.
Democrats proposed a number of amendments seeking to shield programs like SNAP and Medicaid from potential changes under the reconciliation process. However, none of their amendments were adopted.
The Senate proposal focuses on providing funding for Trump’s border agenda and the military. The chamber would develop a second resolution later devoted to tax policy.
However, House leadership and Freedom Caucus members have all indicated that the Senate proposals would likely not make it to a House floor vote due to insufficient spending cuts.
“I don’t want to take the Senate bill up,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. “Did you see what their cuts were? That’s laughable.”
Phillip Brasher contributed to this report.
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