Fact Check: Who Would Be Impacted By Cuts To Food Stamp Program?

U.S. Representative Alma Adams is trying to draw attention to a Trump administration proposal that would cut the number of people who receive public funding for food.

The Democrat, who represents the Charlotte area, recently tweeted her concern about the proposal that would affect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.

In the tweet, Adams says, “The President wants to cut 3 MILLION people from #SNAP, including children, seniors, and veterans.”

So how accurate is that statement?

For this week's Fact Check, WFDD'S Neal Charnoff spoke with Politifact reporter Paul Specht. 

The SNAP program provides “nutritional assistance” to people who are low-income or disabled.

Adams referred to proposed changes to “categorical eligibility.” And, as it turns out, Adams' claim is mostly on-point.

3 million

The proposed change to “categorical eligibility” rules would affect 3.1 million people currently receiving those benefits, according to the USDA's own estimates.

SNAP currently allows states to grant categorical eligibility to people who are already on other social programs. The USDA believes some of those people wouldn't qualify otherwise.

“As a result, some households can qualify when they would not under regular program rules,” the department wrote in a fact sheet.

The Trump administration sees this change as closing a loophole allowing some to abuse a program that's intended to be a “temporary safety net,” NPR reported.

Who's affected?

We reached out to the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service department for insight on how many SNAP participants might be affected by the proposed change.

An estimated 673,000 households with seniors and 597,000 households with children are projected to lose benefits, the USDA's communications office told us in an email.

As for military veterans, the number is a little less clear. We reached out to the USDA and other groups that track SNAP beneficiaries but struggled to find a specific number of veterans that might be affected.

“USDA does not have data to determine the specific impacts of the rule on households with veterans, as veteran status does not impact eligibility and therefore is not captured in the caseload data used to analyze the rule,” the USDA told us.

Veterans on SNAP

But it's possible veterans would be affected.

About 40 million people participate in the SNAP program. About 1.4 million veterans live in participating SNAP households, according to a 2018 study by the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The center analyzed data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and estimated SNAP is currently assisting 55,000 veterans in North Carolina.

Rebecca Vallas, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, believes it's “more than fair to conclude” veterans would be affected. She believes Adams is on “strong footing.”

Our ruling

Adams said President Trump “wants to cut 3 million people from SNAP, including children, seniors, and veterans.” It's true that his administration's proposal would affect 3 million people, including children and seniors.

Veterans also receive SNAP benefits, but we don't know how many veterans would be directly affected. Given that uncertainty, we believe Adams' statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. So we rate it Mostly True.