Millions lose SNAP food benefits because of Trump’s ‘big beautiful building’

Consumers are facing price pressure as grocery and gas costs rise. The pace of inflation is expected to increase in the coming months, according to the Survey of Professional Forecasters, a quarterly survey of major economies from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, there has been a “dramatic increase in food insecurity,” the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a recent blog post, as people face higher costs and the loss of government assistance.

A new analysis shows that nationwide nearly 9% of people — more than 3.5 million — who were beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food benefits to low-income families, lost those benefits between July, when President Donald Trump signed his “big bill” into law, and February. The analysis was conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a non-partisan research and policy institute.

That law included stricter rules to qualify for SNAP, especially regarding work requirements. Additionally, the law transferred some administrative responsibilities and costs to the states. Before the law’s passage, supporters of the law said reforms to SNAP, formerly called food stamps, would reduce waste and provide accountability.

About 42 million people nationwide will receive SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2025, according to the latest figures from the Department of Agriculture.

As states implement the changes, some are already experiencing significant declines in SNAP participation, according to CBPP, which used data from the Department of Agriculture and federal programs.

Arizona has lost 51% of its SNAP beneficiaries, according to CBPP, based on the latest state data. Arizona is already facing problems with food benefits, including a lack of workers, which is contributing to the high rates of food loss now available, according to Joseph Llobrera, senior director of research for the food aid team at CBPP.

State data suggests that 20% of SNAP beneficiaries in Louisiana lost benefits, according to CBPP, while about 16% in Tennessee and about 15% in Virginia lost benefits.

SNAP participation has declined in every state, CBPP found, yet the unemployment rate has held at about 4% since July. Therefore, it is “highly unlikely” that reduced demand is causing SNAP participation to decline, the CBPP said in its report.

The Republic’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act included $187 billion in SNAP cuts, according to the Congressional Budget Office. At the time, the CBPP called it “the biggest cut in the program’s history.”

The new law requires states to help pay for SNAP benefits, which were previously the state’s responsibility.

To limit how much they have to contribute, states can lower their error rates — that is, underpaying or overpaying SNAP benefits. However, limiting those error rates could result in people losing access to SNAP, according to CBPP.

The OBBBA also created stricter rules for people accessing SNAP benefits. Previously, certain people were limited to three months of SNAP benefits every three years unless they worked 20 hours a week or qualified for an exemption.

The law extends those work requirements to people ages 55 to 64; parents of minors aged 14 and over; and homeless people, veterans or young ex-parents. Certain legal US citizens who are not citizens are now ineligible for SNAP benefits.

The size of SNAP benefit payments is based on a “relatively complex” calculation that takes into account the number of people in a household and their income and expenses, Llobrera said.

Arizona resident Rhonda Keene, 60, told CNBC that she applied for SNAP benefits for the first time in February, as her declining health meant she could no longer work full time.

Since then, he said, he has responded to numerous requests from the government for additional documents to support his claim. However, he has yet to receive SNAP support.

“I’ve never been in this situation,” Keene said. “It’s really humiliating.”

Keene said he relies on financial support from his family and regular jobs. He said his retirement savings are dwindling and he is worried he might lose his house. He also applied for Social Security disability and retirement benefits, he said, but was told that that application would also take time to be processed.

Experts say Keen’s condition is unusual.

“There’s a lot of paperwork that families need to submit” to SNAP, as states seek to reduce their payment error rates, Llobrera said. “People are being cut off because they can’t get through, their documents are not approved, or they’re wrongfully denied.”

About 400,000 Arizonans have lost access to SNAP because of the recently enacted federal rules, according to Claudio Rodriguez, vice president of community development at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

For many people, making the decision to seek help is already difficult, Rodriguez said, and some don’t come back to reapply for benefits.

“They just don’t want to ask for that kind of help,” he said. “And – people have to jump through a lot of hoops to get these benefits.”

The average SNAP recipient in Arizona gets about $168 a month, Rodriguez said. For some, it can be difficult to justify the hours of paperwork and phone calls required to qualify for those benefit figures, he said.

The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, which serves five counties, saw its donations increase 17% in its most recent food drive, according to Rodriguez.

“It just shows that people know that their neighbors are in need and want to help and support,” he said.

But Rodriguez and other experts say food banks can’t replace lost SNAP support.

Because SNAP provides nine meals out of every meal served by a food bank, it would be impossible for food banks to recover those lost profits without additional financial assistance, according to Jared Call, director of public policy and advocacy at California Food Banks, a nonprofit organization with 43 member food banks.

Since some states have not yet fully implemented the changes, experts say SNAP participation rates are likely to drop significantly.

“We’re looking at the impact,” Call said.

California is ready for new extended use A three-month time limit on benefits begins June 1. Cuts for those who don’t meet the new requirements after three months will likely begin around October, when an estimated 55,000 to 60,000 Californians a month could lose benefits, Call said.

California saw a more than 6% drop in SNAP participation from February 2025 to February 2026, CBPP data show.

California Food Banks are helping 6 million people a month, Call said, which is more than at the height of the Covid pandemic, when they were helping 4.5 million people a month.

“We never went back to normal after this disease,” he said.

The high demand for food aid that Call and other experts have seen comes amid rising food and energy costs and follows the 2025 federal government shutdown, which causes food aid to expire in the fall.

The new extended work requirements went into effect in New York on March 1, meaning beneficiaries could reach the three-month time limit by June 1, according to Krista Hesdorfer, director of public affairs at Hunger Solutions New York, a nonprofit organization focused on reducing food insecurity.

“We know the worst is yet to come in many states, including New York,” Hesdorfer said.

SNAP participation has dropped by about 150,000 beneficiaries in New York state since February, before the new federal rules went into effect, she said. About 300,000 to 400,000 New Yorkers are expected to be affected by those laws, he said.

“We are very concerned that many people will lose access to important nutritional benefits when they are struggling with rising grocery costs, but also rising costs for everything from housing to health care to child care,” Hesdorfer said.

Advocates say they hope lawmakers will take steps to mitigate the potential damage of the SNAP cuts.

“We have to work to make sure everyone gets SNAP when they need it to help put food on the table,” said Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit focused on fighting poverty-related hunger in the US.

Putting time limits on benefits in an effort to encourage work can be “problematic,” FitzSimons said, especially in communities with high unemployment rates, where it can be difficult for people to meet the new standards.

Because people’s work schedules can change, especially with the gig economy, it can also be difficult to demonstrate compliance with the required number of work hours, FitzSimons said.

Congress may look to strengthen SNAP funding in a new farm bill being considered by the Senate.

The American Public Health Association, a human rights organization, has pushed for the restoration of $187 billion cut from SNAP, as well as rolling back “positive” legislative changes to the program, including expanded work requirements, according to Tia Williams, director of APHA’s Center for Public Health Policy.

The Center for American Progress, a liberal public policy and research organization, estimates that the loss of SNAP due to new work requirements could lead to 70,000 deaths nationally by 2040.

“These cuts and the impact they will have on individual and community health will be devastating, and inconsistent with the goals of reducing chronic disease,” Williams said.

Are you having difficulty accessing SNAP benefits and willing to share your story for a future article? Email lorie.konish@cnbc.com.