House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02), Vice Ranking Member Shontel Brown (OH-11), Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee Ranking Member Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Rep. Jim McGovern (MA-02),and Rep. Alma Adams (NC-12) were joined by all Agriculture Committee Democrats in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins demanding answerings over the abrupt cancellation of the Household Food Security Reports. The reports have provided critical data on hunger in America for decades, with roots that trace back to the presidency of Ronald Reagan.
“The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ (Public Law 119-21) made the largest cut in history to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which more than 42 million Americans depend on to put food on their tables each month… In the wake of its passage, it will be more important than ever to understand how many Americans are living with food insecurity,” wrote the members. “The administration is choosing to eliminate the report instead of facing the consequences of its actions.”
The letterwriters continued, “The reasons provided by the Department in its weekend announcement canceling this critical report were transparently insufficient and misleading and follow a pattern of reducing the value and quality of the data and analysis in USDA’s typically gold-standard reports when the administration feels threatened by their own scientist’s findings… Understanding who is hungry in America is not ‘unnecessary to carry out the work of the Department.’ It is vital. We urge you to quickly reinstate the ERS employees that have been placed on administrative leave and to continue issuing the Household Food Security Report and conducting the critical Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement annually.”
