House Budget Plan Requires $230 Billion Ag Committee Cuts

Agri-Pulse’s Rebekah Alvey reported that “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,” Alvey reported. “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.”

Ag Committee Number Would Likely Require SNAP Cuts

Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill reported Wednesday that “the higher level of spending cuts in the newly released House Republican budget blueprint means some current food aid benefits for low-income Americans will likely be reduced, according to two GOP lawmakers.”

“House Republicans were already targeting expanded work requirements across the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which currently helps to feed more than 40 million low-income Americans,” Lee Hill reported. “But the new plan to be marked up by the House Budget Committee on Thursday contains instructions for the Agriculture Committee to slash $230 billion across programs under its purview, meaning work requirements and changes to state waivers alone won’t reach that target number, said the lawmakers with knowledge about the ongoing talks.”

“Cutting current benefits to low-income families has been a point of tension with a handful of Republicans in competitive districts, who are warning against deep cuts across safety net programs ahead of the 2026 midterms,” Lee Hill reported.

“A list of possible SNAP cuts laid out by the House Ways and Means Committee would slash the cost of SNAP by more than $290 billion by rolling back benefit increases that resulted from a Biden administration update to the Thrifty Food Plan, the economic model used to estimate food costs, and by restricting future TFP updates,” Alvey reported. “The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that repealing the Biden administration update 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,” Alvey reported. “Republicans have previously said there was a lack of consensus on reforms to SNAP, including potential adjustments to work requirements.”

However, “‘It is not necessarily all SNAP,’ said Ben Goldey, spokesperson for the House Agriculture Committee’s GOP majority,” according to Alvey’s reporting. “‘It’s a fluid process and the numbers aren’t final until negotiated with the Senate, and it isn’t a program specific figure.'”

Democrat Warns Cuts Could Make New Farm Bill Harder

House Ag Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig said in a statement that “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. Instead of cutting SNAP to pay for handouts to wealthy donors, Republicans should prioritize helping working people and rural economies. Farmers and families are tightening their belts to make ends meet and cutting critical aid to our neighbors during a time of increased prices is not the answer.”

“If my Republican colleagues move forward with this plan, it will certainly make getting a bipartisan farm bill across the finish line more difficult,” Craig added.