Rep. Jim McGovern condemned the Trump Administration’s proposed budget on Boston Public Radio Wednesday, saying it is “the most reckless, heartless budget I have ever seen in my life ... and I’m not exaggerating."
Trump’s first full budget, revealed Tuesday, would slash federal support for food assistance programs, including SNAP, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, by roughly 25 percent over the next 10 years.
“The majority of people on this program are children, senior citizens, [and] people who are disabled,” McGovern said. “Of those who are able to work, the majority work. Many of them are working full-time, they earn so little that they still are eligible for SNAP. Maybe we should be talking about how we make work pay more.”
According to McGovern, the plan, which provides $1.40 per person per meal, is not enough to cover the costs of putting food on the table.
“You can’t buy a cup of coffee for that,” he said. “Nobody sits around and says, how can I get so poor that I qualify for SNAP?”
In a hearing before the House Agriculture Committee last week, McGovern raised the issue of food stamps and the SNAP program to Sonny Perdue, Trump’s pick to lead the Agriculture Department. Perdue expressed support for assistance programs, saying the administration had no interest in making changes to the program.
“As far as I’m concerned we have no proposed changes,” Perdue said. “You don’t try to fix things that aren’t broken.”
Yet one week later, food assistance measures are one of the many federal programs on the chopping block.
“[Perdue] said [he] favored having states maintain that waiver — that was last week — and then we look at the budget, and it’s like … it’s the total opposite of what he said,” McGovern said. “I’m going to see him later his afternoon, and I’m going to hand him the transcript of what he said to me, and ask him, what’s the deal? You told me that this was a good program, I mean, did you have anything to do with this budget, or were you totally cut out of the loop?”
“Even the Secretary of Agriculture under this president said that this is a good program, don’t screw around with it,” McGovern continued. “And what do they do? They come out with a budget that, if it were enacted, would decimate the program.”
McGovern says it “remains to be seen” whether or not his Republican colleagues will vote for the controversial bill.
“What’s troublesome to me about this is that this is deliberate,” McGovern said. “There’s no excuse for anybody not to know what the impact of these cuts would be.”
To hear Rep. Jim McGovern’s full interview with Boston Public Radio, click on the audio player above.
