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New Census Data: U.S. Hunger Dipped Slightly in April
16.8 Million Americans Still Did Not Have Enough to Eat in One WeekAdvocates Credit Federal Food and Cash Aid for Hunger Drop"Significant, Measurable Progress Proves Government Programs Work""But Nation Still in Midst of Massive Hunger Crisis"
WASHINGTON
The number of U.S. residents who didn't have enough to eat in one week dropped slightly between March and April 2021, but, by the last full week of April, 16.8 million Americans still suffered from food scarcity, according to just-released data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey.
Anti-hunger advocates credited recent federal increases in cash assistance and food aid for reducing food hardship nationwide but indicated that food scarcity was still at a modern high.
In the week of April 14-26, 13 million Americans "sometimes" didn't have enough to eat and an additional 3.8 million "often did not have enough to eat," meaning a total of 16.8 million people did not always have enough to eat. This is a decrease compared to 18.4 million in the last full week in March. In contrast, during the week of January 6, before President Biden took office, 23.7 million Americans did not have enough to eat. The number of people in U.S. households with children who did not have enough to eat also decreased slightly, from 12.5 million in January to 9 million in March to 8.4 million in April.
Said Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, a nationwide nonpartisan direct service and advocacy organization, "This new federal data demonstrates significant, measurable progress, proving that government programs do indeed work. The polices of the Biden Administration and the Democratic majorities in Congress have, in fact, reduced U.S. hunger. But we must also be clear that the nation is still suffering from a massive, long-term hunger crisis, and that more than 16 million of our neighbors struggled against hunger in just one week. Concerned Americans should pressure their elected officials to continue to expand the public polices that are working and donate as generously as they can to effective nonprofit groups like Hunger Free America."
In both March and April, more than 40 million additional Americans couldn't always obtain the types of food they wanted, for a variety of reasons, including lack of funds, food retailers not have the food they wanted in stock, and food retailers not being able to deliver to their homes.
Continued Berg, "This additional data proves that the federal government must do more to enable low-income people to order food online for home delivery using SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps)."
Detailed data on food scarcity from the U.S. Census Bureau can be found below. Hunger Free America's comprehensive plan to end hunger through government policies and programs, including an increased federal minimum wage, additional funding for school meals, and an expansion of SNAP benefits, can be found on their website.
Hunger Free America is a nonpartisan, national nonprofit group working to enact the policies and programs needed to end domestic hunger and ensure that all Americans have sufficient access to nutritious food.
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'No Evidence': Bolivia's Paz Blames 'Narco-Terrorists' for Protests and Signs Law Granting Emergency Powers
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth linked "narco-terrorism," a top target of the Trump administration, to Bolivia's ongoing protests last week.
Jun 09, 2026
Days after the Trump administration blamed "narco-terrorists" for ongoing anti-government protests in Bolivia, US-backed President Rodrigo Paz adopted the term in a statement Monday as he signed legislation that could clear the way for his administration to impose a state of emergency—allowing the military to take action against the demonstrations and suspending constitutional rights across the South American country.
"Our security is put at risk when narco‑terrorism, and the priorities of certain actors, are not aligned with our democracy, our Constitution," Paz said at a signing ceremony. "They put their own interests above those of Bolivian society."
The president warned that the protest organizers' "days are numbered."
Local journalist Joseph Bouchard noted that Paz did not provide any evidence that the dozens of roadblocks that have been erected in Bolivia and the marches and other protests that have been held in cities including La Paz and El Alto are in any way connected to drug trafficking or "narco-terrorism." The government of the Santa Cruz department, the largest of nine constituent departments in Bolivia, also used the term "narcoguerrillas" to describe protest organizers.
Paz signed the legislation into law weeks after the Bolivian Chamber of Senators overturned a law that imposed strict limits on how the government can declare a state of emergency in the country. The limitations included ensuring that certain rights could not be suspended under a state of exception and making the president criminally liable for exceeding the law’s parameters.
On Sunday the legislature passed a new law clearing the way for Paz to declare a state of emergency and allow the military to deploy to clear about 90 blockades and other protests.
The demonstrations have included a 683-mile march in May from the northern territories to La Paz, with Indigenous representatives, teachers, mining unions, and other labor federations among those protesting low wages, privatization, and Paz's decision to end a fuel subsidy after he became president last November. The subsidy had been crucial for working people, organizers say. Some groups are calling for Paz's resignation.
According to The Associated Press and other outlets, the road blockades have disrupted deliveries of food, fuel, and medical supplies.
Before Paz signed the law on Monday, the country's public prosecutor charged a leader of the main labor federation with "terrorism" for his role in leading the demonstrations.
The independent public ombudsman said over the weekend that 10 people have died as a result of the blockades, 37 people have been injured, and 365 arrests have been made from May 1-June 2. The government has said seven of the deaths resulted from a lack of medical attention, but they are still being investigated.
Last week, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on social media that the US government and military would “reject all attempts to overthrow the legitimate government” of Paz.
“The United States is watching. Bolivia must not allow itself to fall prey to the old status quo of narco-terrorist dominance in the region,” Hegseth added.
The Trump administration has also claimed to be fighting "narco-terrorism" as it has killed more than 200 people in boat bombings in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, and charged Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro with drug trafficking after the US military invaded Venezuela and abducted the president in January.
In March, residents of a farming town in Ecuador described an "ambush" by Ecuadorian and American forces who had attacked the area in what the country's right-wing president, Daniel Noboa, called an operation to take down “a training ground for drug traffickers."
The farmers said the town was a "livestock area" with no drug trafficking activity taking place.
Bouchard noted that before signing the law regarding the declaration of a state of emergency, Paz thanked Hegseth for his "support for democracy."
"I really don't know how anyone could take any of this seriously," said Bouchard, "after reading for three seconds about the Trump administration and the history of the US in Bolivia/Latin America."
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'Children Are Dying': UN Human Rights Chief Demands Trump End Economic Assault on Cuba
"The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable," said Volker Türk.
Jun 09, 2026
The United Nations' top human rights official on Monday implored the Trump administration to immediately lift its oil embargo and economic sanctions on Cuba as the island faces a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian emergency, with dire fuel shortages causing rolling blackouts, disrupting food supplies, and buckling hospitals.
“The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement. "Children are dying because doctors lack access to essential medical supplies and medicines. This is unacceptable. These sanctions must be lifted immediately."
Türk noted that key medical services on the island—including oncology and maternal health—have been severely damaged by US economic warfare this year and over the past decade, causing infant mortality to surge and childhood cancer survival rates to fall, among other impacts. The UN rights chief's office noted that "essential medicines are in critical short supply, with supply levels down to about 30%."
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged the shortages in an interview released Monday, saying that "we have very effective programs to care for children with cancer; today, these programs are limited by a shortage of medications and supplies, and as a result, the survival rates of these children with cancer are declining."
In his Monday statement, Türk also pointed to the sanctions' impact on the island's food supply, much of which is imported. Fuel shortages caused by US President Donald Trump's embargo—imposed in late January following his administration's abduction of Venezuela's president—have led to "a reported 60% decrease in food production and spikes in the costs of basic food items," according to the UN.
"Such severe sanctions packages that target entire sectors of an economy and produce broad, indiscriminate, and harsh effects on populations are incompatible with basic principles of international human rights law,” said Türk. "Cuba faces increasing isolation. Companies are leaving. Fewer airlines fly to the country. It is almost disconnected from international payment systems. Rising summer temperatures risk increasing the spread of vector-borne and waterborne diseases. The hurricane season further increases exposure."
"This creates a perfect storm for social and economic deterioration and suffering for the Cuban people," he warned.
The UN official's statement came amid fears that the Trump administration is preparing for a military assault on Cuba, which the US president has repeatedly threatened in the months following the illegal bombing and invasion of Venezuela.
"Cuba is next, by the way," Trump said in late March.
Politico reported in late May that the Pentagon is putting "building blocks in place" for an invasion of Cuba, "positioning the troops and weapons needed for the US to launch a military attack."
"All it needs is a final go-ahead from Donald Trump," the outlet reported.
The US military buildup and escalating economic warfare have led Democratic lawmakers to call for swift passage of a war powers resolution to prevent Trump from launching yet another military operation without congressional approval.
"Trump's belligerent foreign policy is creating new wars and conflicts across the world. As our country is already embroiled in a new war with Iran, the president has now set his sights on regime change in Cuba,” Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), a lead sponsor of the resolution, said last month. "This administration is rushing toward another disastrous war, putting countless American and foreign lives at risk."
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GOP Blasted for 'Handout to the Superwealthy' Private Jet Owners Slipped Into Air Safety Bill
"Oh look—Republicans helping private-jet billionaires avoid paying taxes," said one Senate Democrat. "If only they worked that hard for consumers."
Jun 08, 2026
Nearly a year after congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump made private jets tax-deductible in last summer's budget package, they're again trying to push through legislation that would benefit people rich enough to own personal planes.
Members of Congress have been working on an air safety bill since a military helicopter collided with a passenger plane over the Potomac River last year, killing dozens of people. Early Monday, Politico reported on "a little-noticed" provision on private jets that was slipped into legislation passed by the House of Representatives in April, but not included in the Senate version.
The debated provision stems from the Federal Aviation Administration's 2020 requirement that aircraft adopt a satellite-based tracking technology called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out.
"Private aircraft owners go to great lengths to hide their aircraft from us," Jeff Prang, the assessor for California's Los Angeles County, told Politico. "This data helps us to identify where those aircraft are located."
Prang said that since the beginning of the year, the data has helped his office find an additional 1,000 aircraft in the county, with a total assessed value of $3.5 billion. Private jets in California are subject to sales tax and a 1% annual property tax, so "that's $35 million in local property taxes that aircraft owners had been avoiding," he explained.
The House provision states that the data "may not be used by any person, government agency, or other entity to identify aircraft for the purpose of obtaining revenue from the owner or operator of such aircraft" without permission.
If passed, billionaires will "get to fly private and pay NO taxes," Americans for Tax Fairness Americans warned on social media Monday. "This is a handout to the superwealthy—and we're going to pay for it."
Also responding to reporting, John Loftus, editor at large of the right-wing Daily Caller, suggested the policy could harm Republicans who are at risk of losing control of one or both chambers of Congress in the November midterm elections.
"It's annoying and wrong that private jet owners dodge taxes. This is a great political issue for Democrats because they like to portray those with money as responsible for all ills in American society—$35 million in tax revenue for California is a drop in the ocean (and would likely get wasted anyway)," Loftus wrote. "Republican lawmakers trying to carve out this loophole in a midterm election makes them look sneaky and unconcerned with the issue on 99% of the population's mind: inflation."
Although Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is not up for reelection this cycle, he, too, noted the reporting: "Oh look—Republicans helping private-jet billionaires avoid paying taxes. If only they worked that hard for consumers."
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