Debt ceiling negotiations include expanded work requirements for SNAP
Debt ceiling negotiations between President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy include expanded work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which would add a punitive and unnecessary barrier for poor Americans with only negligible savings for the federal government, according to advocacy groups. The new work requirements in SNAP would save money, but the added benefits pushed by Democrats would cost more and add almost 80,000 people to the rolls in an average month, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The compromise on the food aid requirements between House Republicans and President Joe Biden includes increasing work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and cash welfare but does not alter requirements for Medicaid. The Republican fixation on appending work requirements to these benefits are also ineffective: data shows these policies are not needed and don’t produce any substantial solutions.