Snap Allowed to Stop

Snap Allowed to Stop

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Summary:

The speaker argues that the claim of free healthcare for undocumented immigrants is false, as laws prohibit them from receiving such benefits. They criticize President Trump for potentially causing a government shutdown and its negative impacts, particularly on food assistance programs like SNAP, which aid millions of Americans. The speaker emphasizes Trump’s decision to halt funding for SNAP during the shutdown, despite available resources, labeling it a cruel political tactic. They call for bipartisan efforts to resolve the issue and prevent hunger, urging Republicans to support legislation that would protect these essential benefits for vulnerable populations.

Transcript:

Why is free health care for illegal aliens the only way the hell you guys are going to die off? One, the premise of your question is factually wrong. And I would urge you to actually look at the law, which prohibits any undocumented person from receiving any kind of health care benefits. That is the law.

If the Trump administration is not enforcing the law, then I would ask the president. And I also say the president has made repeatedly clear, and this, I don’t know, I often agree with Donald Trump, but on this one, he’s 100% right when he said repeatedly years back when he was not in office, you know if you got a government shutdown, it’s the president’s job to resolve that. If there is a shutdown, I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the president of the United States.

He’s the one that has to get people together. Well, you got a president of the United States, you got a Republican-controlled House, you got a Republican-controlled Senate, let’s get this fixed. Nobody wants a shutdown.

The Democratic leader. In a few minutes, my good colleague from New Mexico, Senator Lujan, will be offering a unanimous consent request. And I want to thank him for his extraordinary leadership on the issue of SNAP, leading the way on an urgent issue for millions of Americans.

Now, right now, we’re facing down two crises at once, a health care crisis and a hunger crisis. And both are caused by and intensified by one man and one man only, Donald Trump. We’re now three days away from open enrollment, and now for the first time in history, a president is refusing to fund SNAP during a shutdown.

42 million Americans, young children who need food, veterans who might have PTSD and need help, senior citizens who rely on SNAP to help feed themselves, and so many others, people who are out of work, because they lost their jobs through no fault of their own, need SNAP. And why are we not doing it? Not because the money’s gone. It’s there.

Not because it’s not permitted. It’s legal. But because Donald Trump ordered it stopped.

It falls on his shoulders. Let’s be clear. This does not need to happen.

Never before under any president, Republican or Democrat, has SNAP been cut off during a shutdown. We’re not talking about it. We’re talking with the shutdown.

We all know our position. We need a negotiation. But this SNAP doesn’t have to happen in any case, and only because Donald Trump is doing it and the Republican leadership goes along with Donald Trump to let SNAP expire.

Trump did this once before. In 2019, he funded SNAP during his last shutdown. Back then, Trump kept SNAP funded.

This time, he’s deliberately pulling the plug, even though in September he said he would fund it and could fund it, independent of any shutdown. Trump is weaponizing hunger. He’s using kids and parents as pawns.

Donald Trump is a vindictive politician and a heartless man. Just a few weeks ago, Trump’s own USDA confirmed it had $6 billion in emergency funds to keep food and aid flowing. When asked about SNAP, Trump assured everyone it will be fine.

He said it. Then suddenly last Friday, Trump ordered USDA to delete the plan, take it off their website, and refuse to use the money. No reason, no explanation, just cruelty.

Two-thirds of SNAP recipients are kids, seniors, or people with disabilities. That’s who Trump is cutting off. Kids who rely on school meals, seniors on fixed incomes, veterans trying to get by, families trying to get groceries.

That’s the real-world consequence of Trump’s decision. And while he’s manufacturing two crises here at home, where’s his focus overseas? On a ballroom? On sending $40 billion to Argentina? There’s money for Argentina, but not for SNAP. And the Argentina money far exceeds the money needed for SNAP for at least a whole month.

Every presidential forum, Democrat and Republican, has used the same funds to keep families fed. Trump could fix this today with one stroke of his pen. We don’t have to wait.

We don’t have to discuss. We don’t have to deliberate. Let’s be clear.

Republicans have been on a crusade against SNAP all year. They slashed it by a historic $200 billion this summer in their so-called Big Beautiful Bill to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, and now they’re doubling down, using this shutdown to devastate families and leave kids hungry. It’s heartless, it’s cynical, and it’s wrong.

Well, Senate Democrats are not waiting, and that’s why I’m so grateful for Senator Lujan. In a few minutes, we’ll force a vote to avert this avoidable crisis. I thank Senator Lujan, I thank him, for championing the Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act, which will make sure that 42 million Americans don’t lose their benefits.

It will make sure 7 million moms and babies on WIC aren’t left behind. It’s simple, it’s moral, it’s urgent. And if the other side wouldn’t block it, I bet you it would pass overwhelmingly.

And there’s another bill by Senator Hawley, Republican, conservative. I believe it has 11 Republican co-sponsors already. So it’s another bill that could pass.

It doesn’t have WIC, but it does SNAP. Democrats are ready to do what every president in American history has done except for Trump, avert this problem. We’re willing to work with anyone to get this bill on the floor and stop this cruelty.

But right now, unfortunately, Senate Republicans, frozen, paralyzed by fear or cynicism, while enabling Trump to use millions of hungry Americans as political hostages. Senate Republicans should let this bill pass, and I yield to Senator Lujan for a unanimous consent request.