Millions will lose SNAP food benefits because of President Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

Consumers are facing price pressure as food and gasoline prices rise. The pace of inflation is expected to pick up in the coming months, according to the Philadelphia Fed’s quarterly macroeconomic survey, the Professional Forecasters Survey.

Meanwhile, the New York Fed said in a recent blog post that “food insecurity has increased significantly” as people grapple with rising prices and the loss of federal aid.

Nearly 9% of individuals nationwide (more than 3.5 million people) who were beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food benefits to low-income households, lost those benefits between July and February, when President Donald Trump signed “The Big Beautiful Bill,” according to a new analysis. The analysis was conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy organization.

This law included stricter rules for qualifying for SNAP, particularly regarding work requirements. Additionally, this law shifted some administrative and cost responsibilities to the states. Prior to the bill’s passage, supporters said the changes to SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, would reduce waste and bring accountability.

According to the latest statistics from the Department of Agriculture, approximately 42 million people nationwide received SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2025.

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

Based on recent state data, Arizona has lost 51% of its SNAP beneficiaries, according to CBPP. Joseph Lobrera, senior director of research for CBPP’s food assistance team, said Arizona already faces challenges with food benefits, including staffing shortages, which are contributing to the current high coverage loss rate.

According to CBPP, state data shows that 20% of SNAP recipients in Louisiana lost benefits, in Tennessee about 16% and in Virginia about 15% lost benefits.

CBPP research shows that SNAP participation has declined in all states, but the unemployment rate has held steady at about 4% since July. As a result, it is “very unlikely” that a decline in need is driving the decline in SNAP participation, CBPP said in its report.

The Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes $187 billion in cuts to SNAP, according to the Congressional Budget Office. At the time, CBPP called this the “largest reduction in program history.”

The new law requires states to help pay for SNAP benefits, which was previously a federal obligation.

To limit contributions, states can lower their error rates, or underpayments or overpayments of SNAP benefits. However, curbing these error rates could prevent individuals from accessing SNAP, according to CBPP.

OBBBA also created stricter rules for people accessing SNAP benefits. Previously, certain individuals 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 these work requirements to individuals between the ages of 55 and 64. Parents of minor children over the age of 14. Homeless people, veterans, former foster youth, and more. Certain legal U.S. residents who are not U.S. citizens are currently ineligible to receive SNAP benefits.

Lobrera said SNAP benefit payments are based on a “relatively complex” calculation that takes into account the size of a household and its income and expenses.

Rhonda Keene, 60, of Arizona, told CNBC she first applied for SNAP benefits in February because her health condition made it impossible for her to work full time.

Since then, she said, she has responded to multiple requests from the state for more documentation to support the application. But she still doesn’t receive SNAP assistance.

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

Keene said she relies on financial support and odd jobs from her family. She said her retirement savings are dwindling and she’s worried about losing her home. She also has applied for Social Security Disability and Retirement Benefits, but she said she has been told those applications also take time to process.

Experts say Keene’s situation is not unique.

Lobrera said there is “a lot of documentation that households are required to submit” when it comes to SNAP as states aim to reduce payment error rates. “People are being fired because they can’t be reached, their documents aren’t approved, or they’re unfairly denied.”

Approximately 400,000 Arizonans have lost access to SNAP due to recently enacted federal regulations, said Claudio Rodriguez, deputy director of community development for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

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

“They just don’t want to seek that kind of help,” he says. “And people have to go through many hoops to get these benefits.”

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

The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, which serves five counties, saw a 17% increase in donations during recent food drives, Rodriguez said.

“This shows that people definitely know their neighbors are in trouble and want to help and support them,” he says.

But Rodriguez and other experts say food banks won’t be able to replace lost federal SNAP assistance.

Because SNAP provides nine meals for every meal a food bank provides, it’s impossible for food banks to make up for lost profits without additional financial assistance, said Jared Cole, director of public policy and advocacy for the California Food Bank, a nonprofit organization of 43 food banks.

Experts say SNAP participation rates are likely to decline further because some states have not yet fully implemented the change.

“We’re preparing for impact,” Cole said.

California is poised to implement newly expanded three-month benefit limits starting June 1. The cuts for those who don’t meet the new requirements after three months will likely begin around October, at which point an estimated 55,000 to 60,000 Californians per month could lose benefits, Cole said.

SNAP participation in California decreased by more than 6% from February 2025 to February 2026, according to CBPP data.

Cole said California Food Banks is serving 6 million people a month, which is more than at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when they were serving 4.5 million people a month.

“After the pandemic, we could not go back to normal,” he said.

The increased need for food assistance that Cole and other experts have observed comes amid rising food and energy costs and follows the temporary cessation of food assistance in the fall in response to the 2025 federal government shutdown.

The newly expanded work requirements go into effect in New York on March 1, meaning beneficiaries could reach the three-month deadline on June 1, said Krista Hessdorfer, communications director for Hunger Solutions New York, a nonprofit focused on reducing food insecurity.

“We know that the worst is yet to come for many states, including New York,” Hessdorfer said.

As of February, before the new federal rules went into effect, New York state had about 150,000 fewer participants in SNAP, he said. She said about 300,000 to 400,000 New Yorkers are expected to be affected by these rules.

“We are deeply concerned that many people will be left without vital food benefits at a time when they are struggling not only with rising food costs, but with rising costs for everything from housing to health care to child care costs,” Hessdorfer said.

Advocates say they hope lawmakers will take action to lessen the potential harm from SNAP cuts.

“We should strive to make sure everyone has access to SNAP if they need it to put food on the table,” said Crystal Fitzsimmons, president of the Center for Food Research and Action, a nonprofit focused on combating poverty-related hunger in the United States.

Mr Fitzsimmons said putting a time limit on benefits to encourage work could be “problematic” and could make it difficult for people to meet the new criteria, especially in areas with high unemployment.

Demonstrating consistent compliance with the required number of working hours can also be difficult, Fitzsimmons said, as people’s work schedules can change, especially due to the gig economy.

Congress may consider increasing SNAP funding in a new farm bill being considered by the Senate.

The American Public Health Association, an advocacy group, is calling for restoring the $187 billion cut from SNAP and reversing the Big Beautiful Act’s changes to the program, including expanded work requirements, said 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 coverage due to new work requirements could lead to 70,000 deaths nationwide by 2040.

“These cuts and their impact on individual and community health are devastating and inconsistent with the goal of reducing chronic disease,” Williams said.

Having trouble accessing your SNAP benefits and want to share your story in a future article? Email lorie.konish@cnbc.com.