At a glance:
- Since passage of the Republican “Big Beautiful Bill,” 3.5 million people have lost SNAP benefits, and people who still qualify will get less help buying groceries.
- The average person on SNAP could lose about $286 a year by 2034, even as food prices keep rising.
- The cuts help pay for tax breaks for the wealthy. Congress reduced food assistance for children, older adults, people with disabilities, and workers with low incomes to help fund tax cuts for wealthy people and large corporations.
HR 1 — the Republican “Big Beautiful Bill” — devastated the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (otherwise known as SNAP or food stamps) to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations. SNAP is projected to face $295 billion in cuts over the next decade under HR 1. From the passage of the bill in July 2025 to February 2026, 3.5 million people lost SNAP benefits. What’s more, the bill also cuts benefits for people who are still eligible.
HR 1 changes the way the government calculates the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP). TFP uses average prices to estimate the quantity and kinds of food an average household would buy to meet dietary guidelines while minimizing cost. In 2021, the Biden administration did the most comprehensive re-evaluation of the TFP in 50 years, which aimed to reflect the actual purchasing habits of Americans. Before 2021, updates that prioritized restraining benefit growth led to unrealistic assumptions of family consumption. For instance, the TFP assumed a family of four consumes 25 pounds of milk, 20 pounds of orange juice, and 5 pounds of oranges a week. This satisfied dietary guidelines at minimal cost but did not reflect a realistic diet.
Creating a more realistic TFP resulted in increased benefits which angered critics of SNAP. HR 1 responded by requiring TFP changes to be cost neutral, meaning any increase needs to be balanced with cuts. For instance, if the price of meat rises faster than inflation or guidelines recommend more protein, the TFP will need to find a way to meet protein needs without increasing costs. This could lead to changes that would meet guidelines but not reflect common consumption habits, such as assuming families get protein purely from non-meat sources. Benefits will continue to be adjusted for inflation but won’t fully reflect what Americans need to spend for an adequate diet.
A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis found for the typical SNAP household, which includes 1.7 people who receive benefits for 12 months, these TFP changes in HR 1 will reduce the average per-person monthly benefit in 2034 from $227 to $213, adding up to $286 a year.
SNAP values have varied historically
Since welfare reform in 1996 the average SNAP benefit has varied. Part of this is due to recessions. As a recession deepens incomes drop. When incomes drop, recipients are eligible for a larger monthly SNAP payment. These changes last a few years past the economic recovery, but they eventually peak and decline or stabilize.
Small cuts to SNAP benefits stack up for families in need
For households just scraping by, a cut of $286 a year would have a significant impact. What’s more, the most vulnerable Americans — including older people, young children, and people with disabilities — rely on SNAP long term, meaning these cuts would be ongoing and, due to the nature of the change, would increase over time.
Using the per-person benefit in December 2025 and 2034, we can estimate monthly benefits by assuming consistent growth. Over the decade, the gap between what recipients’ benefits would have been without HR1 and what they are because of HR 1 grows larger.
The losses for the average person are small in 2026 at only $15.92 but will grow by 2034 to $228. Unless there is a legislative change that allows more accurate TFP adjustments, the losses will grow past 2034.
Congress took money for food for those in need and gave it to the rich
Coverage of the “Big Beautiful Bill” has focused on the number of people who will lose eligibility, but even those who remain will face significant losses. Children, people with disabilities, older people, and workers with low incomes will have less money to spend on food. The money taken from them is going straight to the bank accounts of billionaires and wealthy corporations. Without federal action, Americans in need will have less money to spend on food as food prices rise — all to make the rich richer.