USDA Proposes SNAP Rule That Could Cut Eligibility for 6.3 Million People
The Agriculture Department wants to end automatic food-assistance eligibility for households with only non-cash TANF help, with 1.8 million children's free school meals at issue.
Outspoken Digest Nutrition Desk
Friday, November 13, 2026/2 min read
About 6.3 million people could lose eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the US food-assistance scheme still widely called food stamps, under a rule the Agriculture Department proposed this week. The department's own estimate, reported by the Associated Press in a story published by WMUR, puts the loss at 6.3 million people by fiscal year 2029.
The change would end the automatic qualification of households that receive only non-cash or nominal help from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programme, known as TANF. Those households would still be able to apply, but would have to meet SNAP's own tests.
What would the SNAP rule change?
The target is what is called broad-based categorical eligibility. It lets states use TANF-funded services such as child care or workforce training to qualify households without applying the standard income limit, KPTV reports. The proposal would limit automatic eligibility to low-income households receiving cash assistance through TANF.
AP says 41 states and the District of Columbia have some form of the policy, citing a USDA report from last year. Federal guidelines generally limit SNAP to households earning under 130% of the poverty level, about $1,700 a month for an individual or nearly $3,600 for a family of four. The first Trump administration proposed a similar change in 2019, which the Biden administration withdrew in 2021.
How many people and children would be affected?
The 6.3 million people are nearly 18% of SNAP recipients, KPTV reports, and the department estimates savings of $44.6 billion from 2027 to 2031. About 1.8 million children would lose automatic eligibility for free school meals if their families lost SNAP, according to both reports. The USDA says 97% of those children would still qualify for free or reduced-price meals through another process.
The scale sits on top of earlier changes. AP reports that 36 million people received SNAP as of July, down 13% from a year earlier, and that 5.5 million people have already lost benefits over the past year. Expanded work requirements now cover adults aged 55 to 64 and parents whose youngest child is 14 or older.
What do supporters and critics say?
The administration cites concerns about waste and fraud and says the change would preserve benefits for the truly needy. Critics disagree. Georgetown law professor David Super told AP the proposal would eliminate the flexibility Congress gave states to serve the working poor, and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the administration was making it harder for families to feed themselves.
Patricia Anderson, an economist at Dartmouth, told AP the change seemed the most reasonable of the administration's SNAP moves, while asking whether eligibility guidelines are too strict overall. Carolyn Vega of Share Our Strength called it one of many things states are dealing with that reduce access.
The public has 30 days to comment on the proposal, KPTV reports, and AP says full implementation would take about two years if it is adopted. For anyone who relies on SNAP, state agencies are the place to check how eligibility applies in their state, and this report is not advice on any individual's benefits or diet.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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Outspoken Digest Nutrition DeskDiet, food science and the evidence behind claims about what we eat.
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