Whitehouse Slams Administration’s Refusal to Fully Fund SNAP

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement after the Trump administration refused to fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP):

"Despite having the funds to provide full SNAP benefits to families in Rhode Island, the Trump administration has instead chosen to do the bare minimum by only releasing partial benefits for November. Holding food assistance hostage and using hungry children as bargaining chips is senseless and cruel. Families deserve better and I urge Trump to fully fund SNAP during an already painful Republican government shutdown."

More than 140,000 Rhode Islanders rely on SNAP benefits. Each month, Rhode Island receives about $29 million to administer the SNAP program across the state.

Last month, Whitehouse joined U.S. Senator Cory Booker and forty-four of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins urging the Trump Administration not to delay or deny SNAP funds to states.