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Editor’s note: The story has been updated to include a comment from the White House.
A major change to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) took effect Oct. 1, shifting a larger share of the program’s administrative costs to states.
As of Oct. 1, states now cover 75% of SNAP’s administrative costs, up from 50%, reported CBS News on Wednesday. Beginning in October 2027, states with high payment-error rates will also owe up to 15% of benefit costs.
About 5.2 million Americans have lost SNAP benefits since H.R. 1, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was enacted, according to an analysis from the Food Research & Action Center.
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SNAP Faces Fallout
Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center, called the changes “absolutely unprecedented,” reported CBS.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in an emailed statement to Benzinga that President Donald Trump is “strengthening SNAP for the Americans who need it by ensuring these programs are sustainable for future generations.” Kelly added that the “Working Families Tax Cuts bill restores basic work requirements, prioritizes American citizens, and implements reasonable cost-sharing measures with states to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse.”
SNAP enrollment has fallen to its lowest level since 2019, according to the report.
Democrats React To Changes to SNAP
Democratic lawmakers wasted no time criticizing the rollout. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posted on X that the provisions “cut Medicaid and eliminate funding for SNAP, threatening the food assistance and health care that millions of Americans depend on.”
Today, provisions of the President’s Big Ugly Bill take effect that cut Medicaid and eliminate funding for SNAP, threatening the food assistance and health care that millions of Americans depend on.
The President and his sycophants in Congress gleefully cheered these cuts—but…
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) October 1, 2026
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Echoing that concern, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote that “5 million people have already lost food assistance, including 1.5 million+ kids since the bill was enacted.” Warren had sounded a similar alarm in September, warning that states could face an “existential crisis” as the federal share of SNAP administrative costs dropped from 50% to 25%.
TODAY: New SNAP cuts are kicking in because of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
5 million people have already lost food assistance, including 1.5 million+ kids since the bill was enacted.
No kid deserves to go hungry so Trump can give his billionaire buddies another tax handout.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 2, 2026
llinois Gov. JB Pritzker went further, saying on X that Trump “made families choose between putting food on the table and paying their bills.”
Illinoisans have lost access to food assistance because the President wanted to make himself and his friends at Mar-a-Lago even richer.
He made families choose between putting food on the table and paying their bills by driving up costs and cutting SNAP. https://t.co/TFVtD7CS55
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) October 1, 2026
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Enrollment Drops Vary By State
Arizona has seen the steepest decline of any state, losing 52% of its SNAP caseload — about 461,272 people — since H.R. 1 was enacted in July 2025, according to FRAC’s SNAP Participation Dashboard. Nationally, SNAP participation has fallen by about 6.1 million people since Trump took office in January 2025.
Separately, states have spent millions on contractors to rework eligibility systems for the new requirements, with Iowa alone expecting to spend $20.3 million.
Image via Shutterstock
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