SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Shoppers wait in line at a grocery store in Washington, DC on January 23, 2026.
(Photo by Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Outrage Grows Over GOP Plan to Take Food Aid From Millions of Women and Children
"There is no doubt that this appropriations bill would only deepen America’s hunger crisis," said the president of one anti-hunger organization.
Apr 23, 2026
House Republicans faced mounting anger on Thursday after proposing hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to a program that provides food aid to millions of vulnerable women and children across the United States.
The cuts were proposed in an appropriations bill to fund the US Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies. The Republican legislation would cut $200 million from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in the coming fiscal year at a time when families nationwide are struggling to afford groceries.
The GOP bill would cut by $141 million a WIC benefit that helps provide fruit and vegetables to toddlers, preschoolers, and pregnant and postpartum women. Around 5.4 million people would lose fruit and vegetable benefits under the Republican bill, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).
"There is no doubt that this appropriations bill would only deepen America’s hunger crisis," Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center, said in a statement. "Families are already struggling in the face of rising grocery prices and would be forced to stretch tight budgets even further. In turn, they would be forced to make difficult choices such as paying for food, housing, or other basic needs."
Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.), the top Democrat on the House agriculture subcommittee, said Thursday that "it is hard to make America healthy again when this bill takes fruit and vegetables from over 5 million women, infants, and children and eliminates the Healthy Food Financing Initiative."
For 30 years, Congress has fully funded #WIC to ensure all eligible families who apply can receive full benefits. The House agriculture appropriations bill would break this promise: it would underfund WIC & cut benefits for WIC participants in every state. https://t.co/lHjESmgkuN
— Ty Jones Cox (@TyJonesCox) April 22, 2026
The damage from the Republican proposal wouldn't be limited to people in the United States. Eric Mitchell, president of the Alliance to End Hunger, noted that "globally, the bill would cut a drastic 25% from Food for Peace at a time when worldwide hunger emergencies are spiking, and the availability of emergency food is in doubt."
"Countless families in the United States and around the world are struggling to get the food they need for themselves and their families. Conflict abroad is spurring emergencies while raising costs for food and agriculture across the globe, and continued economic uncertainty is continuing to put a strain on the limited resources of those most in need of food assistance," said Mitchell. "Hungry people and families cannot afford to shoulder the burden of decreasing federal spending."
The House GOP's proposed cuts would compound the ongoing damage inflicted by the unprecedented $200 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump approved last summer.
CBPP noted in an analysis released Wednesday "that SNAP participation nationwide fell by 2.5 million people (6%) between the law’s July 2025 enactment and December of that year, the latest month of data from the US Department of Agriculture."
"The declines started before HR 1’s enactment, suggesting factors at play in addition to that law," the think tank observed. "But in many states they accelerated after HR 1, and we expect that trend to continue."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
House Republicans faced mounting anger on Thursday after proposing hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to a program that provides food aid to millions of vulnerable women and children across the United States.
The cuts were proposed in an appropriations bill to fund the US Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies. The Republican legislation would cut $200 million from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in the coming fiscal year at a time when families nationwide are struggling to afford groceries.
The GOP bill would cut by $141 million a WIC benefit that helps provide fruit and vegetables to toddlers, preschoolers, and pregnant and postpartum women. Around 5.4 million people would lose fruit and vegetable benefits under the Republican bill, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).
"There is no doubt that this appropriations bill would only deepen America’s hunger crisis," Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center, said in a statement. "Families are already struggling in the face of rising grocery prices and would be forced to stretch tight budgets even further. In turn, they would be forced to make difficult choices such as paying for food, housing, or other basic needs."
Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.), the top Democrat on the House agriculture subcommittee, said Thursday that "it is hard to make America healthy again when this bill takes fruit and vegetables from over 5 million women, infants, and children and eliminates the Healthy Food Financing Initiative."
For 30 years, Congress has fully funded #WIC to ensure all eligible families who apply can receive full benefits. The House agriculture appropriations bill would break this promise: it would underfund WIC & cut benefits for WIC participants in every state. https://t.co/lHjESmgkuN
— Ty Jones Cox (@TyJonesCox) April 22, 2026
The damage from the Republican proposal wouldn't be limited to people in the United States. Eric Mitchell, president of the Alliance to End Hunger, noted that "globally, the bill would cut a drastic 25% from Food for Peace at a time when worldwide hunger emergencies are spiking, and the availability of emergency food is in doubt."
"Countless families in the United States and around the world are struggling to get the food they need for themselves and their families. Conflict abroad is spurring emergencies while raising costs for food and agriculture across the globe, and continued economic uncertainty is continuing to put a strain on the limited resources of those most in need of food assistance," said Mitchell. "Hungry people and families cannot afford to shoulder the burden of decreasing federal spending."
The House GOP's proposed cuts would compound the ongoing damage inflicted by the unprecedented $200 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump approved last summer.
CBPP noted in an analysis released Wednesday "that SNAP participation nationwide fell by 2.5 million people (6%) between the law’s July 2025 enactment and December of that year, the latest month of data from the US Department of Agriculture."
"The declines started before HR 1’s enactment, suggesting factors at play in addition to that law," the think tank observed. "But in many states they accelerated after HR 1, and we expect that trend to continue."
House Republicans faced mounting anger on Thursday after proposing hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to a program that provides food aid to millions of vulnerable women and children across the United States.
The cuts were proposed in an appropriations bill to fund the US Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies. The Republican legislation would cut $200 million from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in the coming fiscal year at a time when families nationwide are struggling to afford groceries.
The GOP bill would cut by $141 million a WIC benefit that helps provide fruit and vegetables to toddlers, preschoolers, and pregnant and postpartum women. Around 5.4 million people would lose fruit and vegetable benefits under the Republican bill, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).
"There is no doubt that this appropriations bill would only deepen America’s hunger crisis," Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center, said in a statement. "Families are already struggling in the face of rising grocery prices and would be forced to stretch tight budgets even further. In turn, they would be forced to make difficult choices such as paying for food, housing, or other basic needs."
Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.), the top Democrat on the House agriculture subcommittee, said Thursday that "it is hard to make America healthy again when this bill takes fruit and vegetables from over 5 million women, infants, and children and eliminates the Healthy Food Financing Initiative."
For 30 years, Congress has fully funded #WIC to ensure all eligible families who apply can receive full benefits. The House agriculture appropriations bill would break this promise: it would underfund WIC & cut benefits for WIC participants in every state. https://t.co/lHjESmgkuN
— Ty Jones Cox (@TyJonesCox) April 22, 2026
The damage from the Republican proposal wouldn't be limited to people in the United States. Eric Mitchell, president of the Alliance to End Hunger, noted that "globally, the bill would cut a drastic 25% from Food for Peace at a time when worldwide hunger emergencies are spiking, and the availability of emergency food is in doubt."
"Countless families in the United States and around the world are struggling to get the food they need for themselves and their families. Conflict abroad is spurring emergencies while raising costs for food and agriculture across the globe, and continued economic uncertainty is continuing to put a strain on the limited resources of those most in need of food assistance," said Mitchell. "Hungry people and families cannot afford to shoulder the burden of decreasing federal spending."
The House GOP's proposed cuts would compound the ongoing damage inflicted by the unprecedented $200 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump approved last summer.
CBPP noted in an analysis released Wednesday "that SNAP participation nationwide fell by 2.5 million people (6%) between the law’s July 2025 enactment and December of that year, the latest month of data from the US Department of Agriculture."
"The declines started before HR 1’s enactment, suggesting factors at play in addition to that law," the think tank observed. "But in many states they accelerated after HR 1, and we expect that trend to continue."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.