Warren warns of "food insecurity crisis" from SNAP cuts and prices

Americans are facing a "food insecurity crisis" after shouldering an additional $22 billion in food costs due to rising inflation and billions of dollars in food-stamp cuts, according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren. 

In an Oct. 21 letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, the Massachusetts Democrat said that the combination of rising food prices and cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has created a "one-two punch" for millions of households. 

Warren also asked the USDA to work with lawmakers to reverse food-stamp policies that have resulted in 5.2 million people losing SNAP benefits since July 2025.

SNAP enrollment, now at its lowest level since 2019, could shrink in the coming months as additional changes to the program take effect, according to anti-hunger experts. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), a tax and spending law signed into law by President Trump in 2025, expanded SNAP's work requirements and shifted more of the program's costs onto states. Those changes have created new hurdles for enrollment, according to experts.

The USDA halted its annual study on food insecurity in 2025, saying at the time that the report was "redundant, costly [and] politicized." But a May analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found "a remarkable increase in food insecurity, particularly among lower-educated and lower-income households and households with young children."

The New York Fed found earlier this year that 10% of U.S. families reported they didn't have enough food and that their children sometimes missed meals, more than double the 4% share in 2020. Almost 20% of families with annual income of less than $50,000 reported not having enough food, up from about 7% six years ago.

"My office developed a 'food misery index' to measure how much the combination of rising food prices and declining SNAP participation is costing American households," Warren said in her letter to the USDA. "The index combines the more than $17.2 billion in rising grocery prices — calculated by inflation-adjusting consumer expenditures — with the more than $5.1 billion in lost household SNAP benefits."

The USDA and White House didn't return a request for comment. 

Changing SNAP policies would require lawmakers to pass new rules for the food-stamp program. Some anti-hunger advocates and state organizations are now lobbying Congress to delay some of the OBBBA's changes to SNAP, including a rule that would require states with high payment error rates to absorb billions in additional costs starting in October 2027. 

The USDA serves as the primary federal regulator and rule-maker for SNAP, giving it some leeway in administering the program. For instance, the agency allowed some states to ban enrollees from using food stamps to buy soda and candy, although a federal judge earlier this year ruled that the Agriculture Department exceeded its authority in implementing the rules. 

Warren also pointed to President Trump's tariffs as contributing to higher food prices. Higher import duties last year boosted U.S. inflation by about 2.9 percentage points through February, according to recent research from the New York Fed. Without those tariffs, the price of goods would have declined, the researchers said.