Nine U.S. Lawmakers Who Were Once on Food Stamps Ask Trump Not to Shrink Program

A handful of U.S. lawmakers have a unique argument for asking President 👤Donald Trump not to slash the food stamp program – they themselves once relied on it.

The Republican president this week proposed $15 billion in cuts to the $71 billion Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly called food stamps, as part of his $4.8 trillion budget plan.

Trump argues that many Americans receiving food stamps do not need them, given the strong economy and low unemployment. His administration already has tightened eligibility guidelines for the food assistance program.

In their letter to Trump, nine Democratic lawmakers said they had each participated in the program “during times of financial struggle for our families.”

Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said he was a toddler when his parents, immigrants from India, received food stamps for a couple of years in the 1970s.

“My parents don’t like to talk about it,” he said. Krishnamoorthi’s father was an engineering student in New York, whose job as a teaching assistant did not pay much. When that was suspended, “things were really rough” for them, he said.

Asking the administration to “remove all intended cuts” to the program, the lawmakers said in their letter: “We are writing today on behalf of the over 36 million American families who currently depend on SNAP, like ours once did, to make ends meet and help the next generation achieve upward mobility.”

It was signed by Senator Patty Murray and eight House members: Krishnamoorthi, Barbara Lee, Robin Kelly, 👤Rashida Tlaib, Salud Carbajal, Jahana Hayes, Gwen Moore and Alma Adams.