Trump Officials Give SNAP Benefits Update

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said they are "working closely" to reform the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during Wednesday's Cabinet meeting at the White House.

The partnership comes as Kennedy seeks to "Make America Healthy Again" and Americans navigate high grocery prices, despite President Donald Trump's campaign promise to bring down prices immediately.

Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) for comment via email on Wednesday.

Why It Matters

In a livestreamed Cabinet meeting marking Trump's first 100 days in office this term, Cabinet secretaries discussed ongoing projects, accomplishments and plans.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the USDA oversees SNAP at the federal level. Any update to SNAP will impact millions of Americans, as the program reached about 42 million in 2023. Benefits are funded entirely by the federal government, with states required to pay 50 percent of the administrative costs.

In 2023, total federal spending on the program was $112.8 billion. At the local level, state agencies manage the program by determining household eligibility and distributing benefits accordingly. The program and how it administers its funds has raised some concerns among Republican lawmakers over potential waste and inefficiencies, with many Democrats pushing against potential program cuts.

What To Know

On Wednesday, Rollins and Kennedy told Trump in their updates that they are working "very closely" with one another on SNAP, also known as food stamps.

Rollins said that "a big part of USDA is food stamps," adding that "it is perhaps one of the largest—if not the largest—welfare program." She said that she and Kennedy were in Texas on Tuesday to discuss food security and public health.

"You can't make America healthy again without your farmers and your ranchers as your partner, so [we're] ensuring that our food stamp program and those at the bottom end of the socio-economic ladder, really have access to nutritious foods as we're facing an obesity crisis and a chronic disease crisis," she said.

Later in the meeting, Kennedy said he is partnering with the USDA on several projects, including "working with Secretary Rollins on dietary guidelines" as well as working "to get sodas and candy off of the food stamp program."

On SNAP, consumers can buy fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy products, breads and cereals, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages, among other items. Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes and tobacco cannot be purchased with food stamps, as well as other nonfood items like pet foods and cleaning supplies.

What People Are Saying

Ben Goldey, a spokesperson for Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn "GT" Thompson, previously told Newsweek: "The chairman is doing his due diligence to leave no stone unturned in finding reforms that will curb wasteful spending and that includes looking at how states administer SNAP, which spends over $13 billion per year in erroneous payments. All options to rein in that waste and incentivize better state administration of the program are on the table."

Katie Bergh, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analyst: "Because states likely wouldn't be able to fully fill in the dramatic hole in federal SNAP funding this proposal would create, they would need to take away some or all of people's food assistance, leaving many low-income households unable to afford groceries."

What Happens Next

Rollins said that her department is "going through a major restructuring." It is not clear if that will impact SNAP.

Update 4/30/25, 4:14 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.