This week, the MAGA Republican SNAP cuts signed into law by Donald Trump last summer start shifting costs onto states and counties across the country, putting new financial pressure on working-class families already struggling to afford groceries, gas, healthcare, and rent.
Trump and MAGA Republicans celebrated last year after signing a spending bill into law that cut the federal government’s funding share for food assistance and forced states to find a way to cover 75% of the cost of running SNAP, up from 50%, a change experts warn could lead to more local cuts to the program.
Families have already felt the damage from SNAP changes this year. Roughly 5 million people nationwide have lost access to SNAP, including more than 1.2 million children who lost food aid in the past year, and researchers believe the true number could top 1.5 million.
Starting Thursday, states and counties will be stuck with a bill they never asked for, and every option left to them takes more money out of the pockets of working people:
- In New York, the state’s share of funding will increase by more than $1 billion annually, forcing counties to weigh tax hikes to cover the cost.
- In North Carolina, rural counties shoulder the greatest burden of an additional $52 million in new administrative costs coming next year.
- 41 states are at risk of losing federal funding for SNAP, forcing them to choose between raising taxes or making deep cuts to their food assistance programs.
- The cost shift arrives when families can least afford it. Trump’s trade war is on track to cost American households an average of at least $1,100 in tariffs this year, and his war with Iran has sent gas and grocery prices sharply higher.
Voters have noticed that Trump and MAGA Republicans betrayed their promises to the working class over the last two years. 70% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, and Trump is spending the final weeks of the midterm campaign panicking in deep red states, where even there his record carries electoral risk.
“As this administration’s devastating cuts come to roost, Trump and Vance are forced to hit the ground in formerly safe red states to gaslight the working families they betrayed,” said American Bridge 21st Century spokesperson Brandon Weathersby. “They haven’t delivered their promises to lower costs and have nothing to sell voters who watched them gut the social safety net, drive up prices, and make life more unaffordable for households across the country. Voters can’t trust Republicans after they rammed through a law that ripped away food assistance from millions and will force states to either cut help for hungry families or raise taxes on working people. Whenever it comes to MAGA policies, families get the short end of the deal every time.”
Published: Sep 28, 2026