Democrats are entirely to blame for the coming food stamp cuts

It’s the great falsehood heard ‘round the world: President Trump and Republicans in Congress are about to ruin Thanksgiving!

Breathless media stories to that effect have multiplied in recent days. Last week, the Trump administration warned states that because of the shutdown, it will run out of funding for food stamps in early November. At that point, states will have to limit these welfare payments, or even end them altogether — something states like Pennsylvania are preparing to do. The only way to fully fund food stamps is to reopen the federal government.

All of this is true, and it is sad. But it is misleading to blame the president and his fellow Republicans, who have already done their part to keep the government open and funded at current levels.

Trump is ready to reopen the federal government at any time. Every Republican in Congress except two (Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie) has now voted to reopen the federal government immediately. They have passed a bill through the House — which Trump is ready to sign — that would fully fund the government, including food stamps for all of the nearly 42 million people on the program. Republicans could hardly be clearer that they want to keep food stamp payments flowing without interruption.

The problem is that Democrats are blocking them. Against a bipartisan Senate majority that has voted to reopen the government, a minority composed entirely of Democrats is filibustering the Senate bill to end the shutdown. In other words, Democrats are holding food stamp recipients hostage. They’re completely to blame for any cuts that come.

Democrats are jeopardizing food stamps because they have a $1.5 trillion wish list of demands that are, frankly, ridiculous for a minority party to make. They refuse to reopen the federal government unless Republicans agree to pay for welfare for illegal immigrants. They want to cut $50 billion in new health care funding for rural areas. They even want to restart foreign aid that pays for things like circumcisions in Zambia and transgender propaganda in Eastern Europe.

Democrats’ biggest demand is to make permanent the temporary COVID-19 bonus payments to insurance companies that former President Joe Biden created in 2021. These payments, by design, were supposed to expire at the end of this year — and they should be allowed to expire. The expanded subsidies are riddled with fraud and were meant to be temporary during the worst of the pandemic. Even if these expanded subsidies disappear, vulnerable Americans will easily be able to find affordable coverage, with people at the poverty line paying less than $4 a week for zero-deductible plans.

No matter: Democrats are so obsessed with forcing taxpayers to fork over $450 billion in unaffordable and unnecessary subsidies, they’re willing to sacrifice all food stamp recipients to get their way.

You won’t find any of these facts in the stories about the looming food stamp hysteria. Instead, you’ll find that Democrats and their allies are saying that Trump could easily step in to keep the funding going. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has prevented cuts to the Women, Infants, and Children welfare program by reallocating money from tariffs. The White House made a similar move to keep paychecks flowing for members of the military.

Why, critics ask, can’t the president do the same thing to keep food stamp payments flowing?

The answer is simple: Food stamp spending is far bigger, costing taxpayers more than $100 billion a year. There just isn’t enough tariff money to shuffle around to make up for Democrats' destructive behavior — not when the administration is already working overtime to keep funding flowing to low-income mothers and the heroes who keep our country safe.

If the White House could keep food stamps funded during the shutdown, it surely would. But it can’t, and Democrats are refusing to give relief by reopening the government.

That’s exactly how Democrats want it. They want to use food stamp recipients as leverage to extract concessions from Republicans. They aren’t just being cynical — they are being actively cruel. And all the while, they are blaming the Republicans for a crisis that they themselves created and are allowing to continue.

Remember that when you read those breathless stories about the vulnerable not being able to eat on Thanksgiving. Republicans are fighting to reopen the government and keep food stamps funded.

Most Democrats are satisfied using the suffering of vulnerable Americans as leverage. They started this food fight, and they are the only ones who can end it.

Tarren Bragdon is president and CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability.