As many Americans gather this July 4th to celebrate the United States’ semiquincentennial birthday — 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence — we at MAZON are reflecting on the heartbreaking reality that millions cannot afford basic necessities like food because our anti-poverty programs have been slashed to fund trillions in tax cuts for the rich.
July 4th, 2026 marks a year since President Trump signed a massive Republican budget and tax package he titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)” into law, cutting and restructuring the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The law’s enactment ushered in an era of uncertainty for millions of food insecure Americans, many of whom are still recovering from the long lasting fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and its inflationary impact on groceries, now struggling anew with skyrocketing price increases for basic needs like fuel and food. SNAP, America’s once flagship food safety net program, is set to see nearly $200 billion in cuts over the next decade.
One year later, over 4 people million kicked off SNAP.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), more than 4 million Americans who were benefitting from the program have lost access to SNAP over the last year, including over 800,000 children — and not because they miraculously began receiving higher wages or new employment opportunities.
Millions of struggling Americans have lost access to SNAP, for example, because of draconian new restrictions on eligibility. The bill imposes new burdens and limits on older Americans up to age 64, veterans, unhoused individuals, former foster youth, and parents or caregivers of children 14 years and up. People who are unable to report on their work have run out of road on their three-month grace period, and can no longer access SNAP.
250 years ago, our country was built by immigrants seeking freedom and opportunity. But today, newcomers have been subjected to unconscionable scrutiny and abuse under the Trump administration. OBBBA ripped SNAP away from previously eligible refugees, asylum seekers, and other documented immigrants who came to this nation with little and will now be expected to find financial stability immediately against all odds.
Over the past year, states have scrambled to implement these new SNAP changes while simultaneously planning for the most harmful structural changes to come – including drastic cost shifts from the federal government onto state budgets. States will soon be expected to carry 75% of administrative costs of SNAP (up from 50%) and, for the first time in history, most will have to cover a portion of SNAP benefit costs themselves – costing hundreds of millions of dollars on average. State budgets are already stretched thin, and they now run the real risk of having to opt out of providing SNAP altogether.
Will it take another 250 years to end hunger in America?
We have put our values into action before in this country, and proved that hunger can be meaningfully addressed. The Great Depression, nearly 100 years ago, showed Americans that hunger could happen to anyone, even if they had made all the “right” choices. Charities alone could not address the vast number of Americans facing food insecurity; in response, Americans demanded government intervention to address the systemic hunger plaguing their communities and country. The New Deal provided for the first food stamps program, connecting surplus farm products with the hungry Americans who needed those products the most – a model later solidified in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society programs. Those social welfare programs and support systems – including the Food Stamp Act of 1964 – helped dramatically reduce hunger in the United States, down to just 3% of our population.
These programs moved millions out of poverty and paved the way for SNAP – one of the most successful anti-poverty programs in history. Yet, here we are, a year after the enactment of OBBBA, moving backwards in our pursuit to end hunger.
America was built on the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. None of this is possible if millions go hungry. Fighting hunger in America is not a fantasy. Policymakers can and must reverse these harmful cuts.