Republicans Want the Poor to Pay for Trump’s Tax Cuts
To offset the costs of extending the president-elect’s 2017 tax law, House members are proposing cuts to food stamps, social services and Medicaid.
What are their plans for programs for the poor?
Photographer: Allison Robbert/AFP
There are a lot of known unknowns about exactly how Republicans will approach the major tax and spending issues facing the new Congress. But one thing is clear: Low-income Americans are going to be in the crosshairs.
A “menu” of potential cuts developed by House Republicans proposes somewhere north of $5 trillion in spending reductions, the vast majority coming out of the pockets of the most vulnerable. The biggest item on the list is $2.3 trillion in proposed Medicaid cuts. But the most egregious is a $274 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that would reverse one of President Joe Biden’s best but least-heralded initiatives — an update to what’s known as the Thrifty Food Plan.