A range of anti-hunger, food industry and farm groups have reacted to the reconciliation proposal that the House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to begin marking up this evening.

Food Research & Action Center Interim President Crystal FitzSimons said, ‟As the House Agriculture Committee prepares to mark up one of the most consequential budget packages in years, we urge every member to keep children, families, older adults, veterans, farmers, rural communities, and grocers top of mind. This means no cuts to SNAP. Period. SNAP is a lifeline for over 42 million Americans, fueling health and opportunity, as well as the economy in every congressional district. Slashing billions from SNAP would deepen hunger, increase poverty, and weaken communities. Instead of shifting costs to states — knowing that states cannot take these added costs on — and cutting SNAP, we must ensure access to the nutrition that everyone needs to thrive. The markup is an opportunity for the committee to do the smart thing and the right thing: Protect SNAP.”

Ty Jones Cox, vice president for food assistance of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said, “House Republicans are pushing to take food assistance away from millions of low-income people, despite some lawmakers falsely claiming this policy would not cut SNAP benefits.

“The language is unclear, but it could end SNAP entirely in some parts of the country if states decide the new state funding requirements are impossible for them to meet and force them [to] opt out of the program. The bill’s massive cuts disguised as ‘cost shifts’ pass the buck to states — but ultimately would leave families holding an empty grocery bag when states aren’t willing or able to backfill for lost federal funds. The bill also would take food away from millions of older adults and parents who are struggling to find steady work or get caught in red tape.

“One thing is abundantly clear — this bill would raise grocery costs for families with children, older adults, people with disabilities, veterans, small business owners, and working people with low incomes, leaving them without the help they need to afford food. With the Trump administration’s tariff policies increasing the risk of a recession and likely to increase the cost of groceries and other essentials, slashing SNAP is more misguided than ever.”

CBPP said “there is no way to cut $230 billion from SNAP without removing food assistance for millions of low-income families.”

More than 150 Jewish organizations — including MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger — sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them not to cut Medicaid or SNAP.

“The proposals under consideration to slash, restructure, and further restrict these programs would have irreparable, direct impacts on our Jewish community, the populations we serve, and those for whom we advocate. They run counter to our Jewish values of preserving dignity, centering justice, and being gracious to the poor,” the letter said.

The National Grocers Association, which represents independent grocers, said last week that SNAP funding supports approximately 388,000 jobs and $20 billion in direct wages, creating $4.5 billion in state and federal tax revenue.

FMI Chief Public Policy Officer Jennifer Hatcher told The Hagstrom Report today, “As the nation’s primary hunger program, SNAP provides 42 million Americans a modest benefit of just $6 per day — with 79% of all SNAP households having seniors, children, or people with disabilities. There is widespread support among voters for SNAP, with more than seven in 10 holding a favorable opinion of the program and 59% opposing reductions in benefits. FMI and our member companies stand ready to continue helping lawmakers and USDA to ensure the SNAP program operates as efficiently as possible by reducing state error rates and cracking down on fraud by international criminal organizations that steal benefits from SNAP participants while effectively serving those who rely on these benefits to feed their families.”

Migrant Insider, a newsletter, said provisions eliminating access to SNAP for several categories of lawfully present immigrants and elimination of the National Education and Obesity Prevention Grant Program known as SNAP-Ed “aim to reduce federal spending but may exacerbate food insecurity among vulnerable populations.”

Migrant Insider added, “The policy is expected to affect thousands of immigrants, particularly those with complex immigration statuses, by removing their access to SNAP benefits. While exact numbers of impacted individuals are unavailable due to limited federal reporting, the changes could lead to increased food insecurity, especially for families with children.

“The loss of SNAP-Ed funding may further hinder public health efforts, reducing resources for obesity prevention and nutrition education in immigrant communities. States may face pressure to cover these gaps, but fiscal constraints could limit such efforts, disproportionately harming low-income and immigrant populations.”

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Policy Director Mike Lavender said, “The budget reconciliation bill offers a simple deal — pass up a full, five-year farm bill in exchange for dramatically increased farm subsidies funded by hundreds of billions in cuts that will deepen hunger and threaten farmer livelihoods. In its details, the bill falls well short of meaningful steps toward building a fair, responsible, and widely accessible farm safety net, and fails to invest in local and regional supply chains. Any specter of progress in the bill is overshadowed by the evaporation of a full, bipartisan farm bill that supports all of American agriculture.”

In a lengthy news release, NSAC said the budget reconciliation text draws heavily from the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2024, which did not move beyond the House Agriculture Committee in 2024. Last week, NSAC led 160 farmer-serving organizations in calling on congressional agriculture leaders to “stand for a new, full farm bill by rejecting and opposing any and all approaches to budget reconciliation that will reduce market opportunities for farmers and lessen the likelihood of a much-needed full farm bill.” 

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Executive Director of Government Affairs Tanner Beymer said, “From boosting disaster recovery programs to strengthening foreign animal disease detection and prevention, this bill protects America’s livestock producers.”

The National Pork Producers Council praised the increased funding for animal disease programs, trade promotion programs and the feral swine eradication program.

USA Rice and the National Cotton Council issued statements today praising the bill for its assistance to farmers.