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jim mcgovern
'They Don't Seem to Give a Shit': Trump and GOP Push Food Aid Cuts as Iran War Costs Soar
"It’s disgusting," said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. "We ought to be able to end hunger in this country. It's a political condition. We have the money."
Apr 22, 2026
Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern on Wednesday said it is "disgusting" that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are pursuing more cuts to federal nutrition assistance for low-income Americans while simultaneously backing a war of choice in Iran that has cost US taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
"We have 46 million people in this country who are hungry, and they don’t seem to give a shit," McGovern (Mass.) told reporters, warning that Republicans are bent on enacting additional cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in their forthcoming budget reconciliation package. "We ought to be able to end hunger in this country. It’s a political condition. We have the money."
McGovern: SNAP provides about $2 per person per meal. We’re told there are more cuts to SNAP coming in reconciliation. We have 46 million people in this country who are hungry, and they don’t seem to give a shit, and it’s disgusting.
We ought to be able to end hunger in this… pic.twitter.com/Aq1o8L0ZQa
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 22, 2026
McGovern noted that the Trump administration has "spent $60 billion on the war in Iran"—a rough estimate based on analyses indicating that the US is spending around $1 billion per day on the conflict. The Trump administration is also pushing Congress to approve up to $100 billion in new funding for the Iran war.
More broadly, Trump has requested that lawmakers pass a $1.5 trillion military budget for the coming fiscal year—a nearly 50% increase compared to current levels—while pushing for more cuts to healthcare, housing, nutrition, and education programs.
Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, are demanding additional food aid cuts as part of the annual appropriations process, as the unprecedented $200 billion in SNAP cuts they enacted last summer continue to wreak havoc nationwide.
On Wednesday, the GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee released its funding bill for the Agriculture Department and other agencies. The proposal would significantly underfund the Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program (WIC), taking food benefits from around 5.4 million toddlers, preschoolers, and pregnant and postpartum WIC participants, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said the Republican funding bill "cuts grocery vouchers specifically for women, infants, and children" and "pares back assistance for rural communities, slashing water and waste grants and cutting resources to help provide broadband service in rural areas."
"Republicans are willing to increase funding by hundreds of billions of dollars to fight foreign wars," said DeLauro. "But when it comes to supporting American farmers and hungry families, all they can do is cut, cut, cut. The American people deserve better."
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House Republicans Defeat Another Venezuela War Powers Resolution by 'Tightest Margin'
"The maniac in the White House does not have the authority to bomb and invade anywhere he wants across the globe," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib. "Congress must put an end to this."
Jan 22, 2026
The latest in a series of congressional efforts to rein in President Donald Trump's military aggression against Venezuela failed Thursday as Republican lawmakers again defeated a war powers resolution by the tightest possible margin.
House lawmakers voted 215-215 on H.Con.Res.68—introduced last month by Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.)—which "directs the president to remove US armed forces from Venezuela unless a declaration of war or authorization to use military force for such purpose has been enacted."
Unlike in the Senate, where the vice president casts tie-breaking votes, a deadlock in the House means the legislation does not pass.
Every House Democrat and two Republicans—Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Thomas Massie of Kentucky—voted in favor of the measure. Every other Republican voted against it. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) did not vote.
The House vote came a week after Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote was needed to overcome a 50-50 deadlock on a similar resolution introduced last month by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
The War Powers Resolution of 1973—also known as the War Powers Act—was enacted during the Nixon administration toward the end of the US war on Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The law empowers Congress to check the president’s war-making authority by requiring the president to report any military action to Congress within 48 hours. It also mandates that lawmakers approve any troop deployments lasting longer than 60 days.
Thursday's vote followed this month's US bombing and invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife on dubious "narco-terrorism" and drug trafficking allegations. Trump has also imposed an oil blockade on the South American nation, seizing seven tankers. Since September, the US has also been bombing boats accused of transporting drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
"If the president is contemplating further military action, then he has a moral and constitutional obligation to come here and get our approval," McGovern said following the vote.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-NY) lamented the resolution's failure, saying, "The American people want us to lower their cost of living, not enable war."
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said on Bluesky: "Only Congress has the authority to declare war. Today, I voted for a war powers resolution to ensure Trump cannot send OUR armed forces to Venezuela without explicit authorization from Congress."
Cavan Kharrazian, senior policy adviser at the advocacy group Demand Progress, also decried the resolution's failure.
“We are deeply disappointed that the House did not pass this war powers resolution, though it's notable that it failed only due to a tie," he said.
"As with the recent Senate vote, the administration expended extraordinary energy pressuring Republicans to block this resolution," Kharrazian added. "That effort speaks for itself: With the American people tired of endless war, the administration knows that a Congress willing to enforce the law can meaningfully curtail illegal and escalatory military action. We urge members of Congress to continue fully exercising their constitutional authority over matters of war.”
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Congressmen Unveil Bipartisan War Powers Resolution to Block Trump War on Venezuela
"No conflict for oil, no armed intervention, no war with Venezuela!" said Rep. Jim McGovern.
Dec 03, 2025
As President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth face mounting fury over their deadly boat bombings and threats against Venezuela, a trio of US lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bipartisan war powers resolution aimed at blocking any attacks on the South American country not authorized by Congress.
"Donald Trump claimed he would put America first—instead, he's trying to drag us into an illegal war in Venezuela," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), ranking member of the House Rules Committee and co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, in a statement. "Whatever this is about, it has nothing to do with stopping drugs."
"Trump just pardoned the former president of Honduras, who was convicted of sending cocaine to the US. And... he pardoned a guy who brought fentanyl in from China via the dark web," he highlighted. "To me, this appears to be all about creating a pretext for regime change. And I believe Congress has a duty to step in and assert our constitutional authority. No more illegal boat strikes, and no unauthorized war in Venezuela."
So far, congressional efforts to prevent Trump from waging war on Venezuela and continuing to blow up boats the administration claims are running drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific—the US military has attacked 22 vessels and killed at least 83 people—have not been successful.
On Tuesday, while answering questions about reporting that the first vessel attack on September 2 involved a double-tap strike that killed survivors, the president signaled he will soon pursue long-threatened attacks on Venezuelan soil.
"We're going to start doing those strikes on land too," Trump said. "The land is much easier" than bombing boats, "and we know the routes they take," he continued, referring to alleged drug traffickers.
Meanwhile, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), a co-sponsor of the new resolution and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, said that "President Trump has undermined our alliances in the Western Hemisphere, openly interfered in elections, conducted illegal strikes on boats in the Caribbean, and threatened foreign military intervention."
"He has put our country at the brink of a war with Venezuela without a debate or vote in the Congress," Castro said of Trump. "This resolution will ensure that every member of the House is on the record about sending service members to a war that Americans do not want."
Castro and McGovern are spearheading the new push with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who previously joined with Democrats to force the House's November vote on releasing federal files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Trump's former friend. The bill is also backed by three California Democrats: Reps. Sara Jacobs, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, and Ro Khanna.
"The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to unilaterally commit an act of war against a sovereign nation that hasn't attacked the United States," Massie stressed. "Congress has the sole power to declare war against Venezuela. Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution."
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