Senate rules just threw a massive wrench into the Republican machine, blocking a key plan to shift food stamp costs to states as part of President Donald Trump’s ambitious tax and spending package.
The Associated Press reported that the Senate parliamentarian’s ruling that the GOP proposal to offload Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) expenses violates Senate guidelines, derailing a critical piece of a $4.5 trillion tax break plan Trump hopes to sign by July 4, 2025.
This saga kicked off with the House approving the multitrillion-dollar package last month on a strict party-line vote, facing fierce opposition from Democrats who decried its impact on health care and food aid.
The bill, which extends tax cuts from Trump’s first term and introduces new breaks like no taxes on tips or overtime, moved to the Senate for revisions, where it’s now hitting major roadblocks.
By late Friday, the parliamentarian, whose advisory rulings are almost never ignored, determined that the SNAP cost-shifting plan—crafted by the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee—breaches the Byrd Rule, a Senate regulation barring certain policy changes in budget reconciliation.
Lawmakers had already cautioned that states couldn’t shoulder these new costs, potentially jeopardizing SNAP benefits for over 40 million Americans, a concern now amplified by this ruling.
The GOP had banked on tens of billions in savings from SNAP—initial House estimates pegged it at $128 billion—to balance the hefty tax cuts, but this setback leaves a gaping hole in their fiscal strategy.
“We will keep fighting to protect families in need,” declared Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee. Nice sentiment, but let’s be real—progressive hand-wringing often ignores the need for fiscal responsibility over endless federal handouts.
Meanwhile, Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., chairman of the same committee, vowed to explore options “to ensure SNAP serves those who truly need it while being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.” Now that’s a balanced approach—help the vulnerable, but don’t break the bank.
The parliamentarian didn’t stop at SNAP, also striking down provisions like making certain immigrants ineligible for food stamps and gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as Byrd Rule violations, further complicating the GOP’s path.
Other committees took hits too—Sen. Ted Cruz’s Commerce Committee lost $250 million for Coast Guard stations, while plans from Environment and Armed Services committees to rollback EPA standards and mandate defense spending plans were also ruled out of bounds.
On Thursday, additional setbacks emerged, and by Saturday, Republican leadership was in a frenzy, working late into the night—sometimes until midnight—to salvage the 1,000-page proposal before voting begins.
President Trump, who met with the Juventus soccer club in the Oval Office just days ago on June 18, has been pushing hard for this package, urging the Republican majority in Congress to deliver his top domestic priority by the July deadline.
Yet, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office warns this plan could add $2.4 trillion to the national deficit over a decade, while leaving 10.9 million without health care coverage and slashing food stamps for over 3 million—numbers that fuel Democratic outrage.
“Senate Republicans are hell bent on paying for tax cuts for billionaires by ripping food out of the mouths of kids, seniors, veterans and families,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer fumed in a private call.
Hyperbole much? Tax relief for hardworking Americans isn’t a crime, though cuts to essential programs must be handled with care, not political grandstanding.