Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Senate Republicans Proposing Draconian Cuts To SNAP In Their “Big, Ugly Bill”

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the cuts to SNAP proposed by Senate Republicans, which would cause millions of Americans, specifically children, to go hungry. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

After Senate Republicans spent weeks promising they would moderate the extreme policies in Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” last night they doubled down.

The Senate Agriculture Committee released the text of their portion of the bill, and the cuts to food assistance are as cruel, harmful, and extreme as what came out of the House. They gave it a fresh coat of paint and pretended it’s somehow more moderate, when in reality it’s not.

What happened to all those Senate Republicans who said they wanted to moderate the House’s SNAP cuts? The plan they came up with is the House bill’s evil twin, with a slightly nicer suit.

It would still be the most aggressive cuts to food assistance in American history.

Hundreds of billions in cuts – just as punitive as what came out of the House.

Eight million Americans – three million children and seniors – would be in danger of losing benefits.

States would still carry the burden in a way they’ve never had to before. And Republican state governors are going to start complaining, let me assure our Republican colleagues.

Under the Senate plan, a state like North Carolina could be penalized $438 million in 2028. States have to balance their budgets – a blow like this would be crippling, forcing states to make impossible decisions about who gets to keep their food benefits and who will be forced to go hungry.

I urge Senate Republicans to throw this latest plan away. It’s not moderate at all.

Again: the Senate’s SNAP proposal is basically House version’s proposal evil twin, dressed in a slightly nicer suit.

And one other thing: to take food out of the mouths of hungry kids, and give it to tax cuts to billionaires? All they want is to fill their little tummies.

How perverse, how cruel, even vicious.

And then they come up with these shibboleths of people aren't working, people are cheating. They have no proof. They just cut. It's mean. It's against what our scriptures teach us.

This, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the poor, to the thirsty, should not be a political issue and should not be a partisan issue. It should be a moral issue.

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