Across the country, Americans who depend on government help to buy groceries are preparing for the worst.
As a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown, Donald Trump has threatened to, for the first time in the program’s more than 60-year history, cut off benefits provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program (Snap). A federal judge last week prevented the US Department of Agriculture from suspending Snap altogether, but the Trump administration now says enrollees will receive only half of their usual benefits.
The Guardian wanted to know how important Snap was to the approximately 42 million people enrolled in the program. Many of those who responded to our callout were elderly, or out of the workforce because of significant mental of physical health issues, and worried that a cutoff of the benefit would send their lives into a tailspin.
“I am housebound because I need a couple of spinal cord surgeries so this is really gonna hurt me because I cannot work, and thereby earn money to put food on the table,” said Taras Stratelak, a retiree in southern California.
Referencing a refrain of Trump and the GOP as they have downsized federal aid programs, Stratelak wrote: “I guess I’m lazy, or maybe I’m waste, fraud and abuse.”
Wisconsin resident Betty Standridge, 56, said she had been hospitalized for a month, and was relying on Snap to afford pricier groceries that she now would have to go without.
“Losing my Snap benefits means I will not be able to replenish my food for the month, therefore I will do without things like fresh produce, milk, eggs,” she said.
Donna Lynn, a disabled veteran in Missouri, said a cutoff of benefits would force her into making tough choices.
“It comes down to paying for my medications and my bills or buying food for myself and for my animals. So I pay for my medications and bills and get what food I can for my animals, And if I have money left over, then I will eat,” Lynn said.
“This is how the government treats their veterans – it’s very sad.”
Zachariah Kushner, a disabled 36-year-old living in Charleston, West Virginia, put the consequences of a benefit cut succinctly: “I won’t be able to buy food! What do you expect?”
The government shutdown began on 1 October, after Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to agree on spending legislation to continue funding. While the GOP has demanded passage of a bill to fund the government through 21 November, Senate Democrats have refused to provide the votes needed for the legislation to make it through that chamber, insisting that Trump extend tax cuts that have lowered the monthly premiums of Affordable Care Act plans.
While the USDA claims that it must cut off Snap because it no longer has money to fund it, experts disagreed, and a federal judge last week sided with two dozen states who sued to keep it paying out funds.
A NBC News polls released on Sunday found 52% blamed Trump and his allies for the shutdown, as opposed to 42% who fault the Democrats.
Many of those who wrote in to the Guardian aligned with those findings.
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Sandra, a retiree in Milwaukee who declined to give her last name, feared the benefit cut was the start of an attempt to dismantle Snap, which was set up by Congress in 1964. “My sense is Trump will try to make Snap benefits permanently end during the shutdown,” she said. “I’m dumbfounded by the cruelty.”
Steven of Wisconsin, 59, said he is recovering from surgeries, and has been unable to work for the past year because of his health. “I’ve already reduced my intake since before Snap was cut. Now it means no milk, no eggs, no vegetables, and definitely no meat,” he said.
Referring to the climactic second world war battle, he said: “It’s like the siege of Stalingrad, but from your own government.”
Twenty-eight-year-old Thomas, an unemployed Philadelphia resident, felt similarly let down.
“I’ve paid an awful lot of taxes over the years, I don’t feel bad about getting something back for it in my time of need,” he said.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, resident Bill predicted he “will have to go without many things that I ordinarily purchase” and borrow money from his family.
“How do I feel about it? I curse Donald Trump and his entire party of sycophants and lickspittles to the seven[th] circle of hell, now and for all time,” the 71-year-old said.
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