U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research, led 30 of their colleagues in pressing U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on the USDA’s plan to have all beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) “reapply” for their benefits.
“We write to express serious concerns and request further details about the plan by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to have all beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ‘reapply’ for their benefits,” wrote the Senators. “These changes appear to be duplicative of existing SNAP rules and designed to create more red tape for families seeking to put food on the table.”
“This reapplication requirement comes after repeated efforts to deny Americans in need of essential nutrition assistance,” the Senators continued. “In addition to unprecedented cuts to SNAP enacted earlier this summer, decisions to disrupt food assistance during the shutdown have created additional uncertainty. We are therefore troubled that the Administration could choose, at this moment, to add additional red tape that creates duplicative and unnecessary barriers to accessing nutrition assistance for families.”
Along with Klobuchar and Luján the letter was signed by Leader Chuck Shumer (D-NY), and Senators John Fetterman (D-PA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Ed Markey (D-MA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Gary Peters (D-MI), Mark Warner (D-VA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tina Smith (D-MN), Patty Murray (D-WA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
The full text of the letter is below and can be found here.
Dear Secretary Rollins,
We write to express serious concerns and request further details about the plan by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to have all beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) “reapply” for their benefits. These changes appear to be duplicative of existing SNAP rules and designed to create more red tape for families seeking to put food on the table.
SNAP benefits are provided pursuant to existing statute passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. Under these SNAP rules, states are generally required to certify SNAP households for a period of not more than 1 year. All Americans who receive SNAP must be recertified by states to verify that they continue to qualify for SNAP on a regular basis. Additionally, SNAP rules prohibit states from ending a household’s certification period early unless the household has become ineligible. Introducing further roadblocks for SNAP beneficiaries, most of whom are children, the elderly, or disabled, is unnecessary and unwarranted.
This reapplication requirement comes after repeated efforts to deny Americans in need of essential nutrition assistance. In addition to unprecedented cuts to SNAP enacted earlier this summer, decisions to disrupt food assistance during the shutdown have created additional uncertainty. We are therefore troubled that the Administration could choose, at this moment, to add additional red tape that creates duplicative and unnecessary barriers to accessing nutrition assistance for families.
With millions of Americans, including children, at risk of losing access to nutritious foods, we strongly support efforts to ensure the SNAP program is working efficiently and reaching beneficiaries consistent with the law. We therefore request responses to the following questions by December 1, 2025:
How is the “reapplication” plan different from the current recertification process?
How is the “reapplication” plan consistent with existing program rules and regulations?
When will the USDA issue rulemaking or guidance for states and families on the “reapplication” plan?
