How the Snap cuts and work requirements changed

The decline in the number of people receiving food stamps is the first clear, measurable outcome of the Trump administration's Snap policy changes. Enrollment stood at 41.6 million in July 2025, before the One Big Beautiful Act took effect, and had fallen to 36.5 million by June 2026 - a 13% decrease, per USDA data. The Congressional Budget Office has projected the changes will reduce Snap spending by about $187bn over 10 years.

The work rules at the center of the law were tightened considerably:

• •Previously, only able-bodied people aged 18 to 54 without dependents under 18 had to work at least 20 hours a week, or face a three-month benefits limit over three years.
• •Under the new rules, people aged 18 to 64 without a dependent under 14 must perform paid or volunteer work at least 20 hours weekly.
• •Starting October, states must cover 75% of Snap administrative costs, up from half.

A further cost shift is scheduled for later: from October 2027, states with a Snap payment error rate above 6% must pay for part of benefit costs, although the USDA says the error rate is not a measure of fraud. States with error rates above 13% received a delay in implementing that requirement.

Where enrollment fell and what the administration says

The drop has not been uniform across the country. Arizona's Snap enrollment fell 50% between July 2025 and June 2026, while Kentucky's fell 6%. In Kentucky, governor Andy Beshear wrote to agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins saying he is concerned more people are going hungry in his state as a result of the changes, with children and the elderly affected.

Rollins, speaking at a Minnesota farming festival in August, framed the decline differently, saying: "it's a pretty big win when we move 5 million people off of food stamps". A USDA spokesperson cautioned, however, that the number of people receiving benefits is constantly changing and "is not representative of any one policy".

Critics have also noted that grocery and gas prices have increased during Trump's second term despite his promises, deepening the squeeze on household budgets.

Food banks report rising hunger and demand

Stakeholders say the Snap cuts have forced more people to seek help from food banks or go hungry. The pressure is showing up in hard numbers and firsthand accounts:

• •The Food Bank Council of Michigan's helpline started getting more than three times as many calls daily after the Snap changes took effect, and this week had to temporarily suspend service because of call volume.
• •Rhona Kamar, founder and executive director of Feed Louisville, said "every day the shelves are empty at the end of the day".
• •Gina Plata-Nino, director of Snap at the Food Research and Action Center, argued the program's role reflects wages: "If people were getting paid enough, they would not be on the Snap program".

The changes are also reaching schools. Where at least 25% of a student body are recipients of Snap or some other public benefits, schools can use the Community Eligibility Provision to serve free meals to all students. As enrollment falls, that eligibility slips away: in Houston independent school district, 26 schools that previously provided free meals to all students under Cep are no longer eligible.

The administration's rationale - that people leaving the rolls can find work - is disputed. Per Factcheck.org, the US added 776,000 non-farm jobs between January 2025 and September 2026, against 2.6 million in the last 20 months of Biden's presidency. Sheril Kirshenbaum of the Food Bank Council of Michigan said: "We don't have the data to suggest that there are more jobs suddenly out there" - only fewer people getting benefits.

Kirshenbaum added that the changes could mean longer processing times and people who need assistance having to wait longer.

A recipient's view and the states' cost dilemma

For the states, the arithmetic of the new law is drawing criticism. Joseph Llobrera of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities noted that states must pay more for existing work while also funding error-reduction efforts, and said: "States have been really set up to fail".

In Louisville, Sandra Scott, 58, who has been homeless most of her life, described life before Snap four years ago: she ate at "soup kitchens or wherever I could, but for the most part, like on the weekends, there really was not anywhere to go". Scott has had six back surgeries and struggled with mental illness and methamphetamine addiction; she got sober two years ago, lives in a subsidized apartment, is obtaining an emergency responder certificate and volunteers with The Table, a pay-what-you-can restaurant.

Asked what she would say to the Trump administration, Scott asked why its members do not walk in the shoes of someone without money or affordable housing, saying: "Why don't you walk in one of our shoes".

The USDA spokesperson left unanswered an inquiry on whether the new rules have left some Americans hungry. The next scheduled shift comes in October 2027, when states with payment error rates above 6% must begin covering part of benefit costs.