The SNAP program has just been reshaped by major legislative changes that will cut spending, tighten work requirements, and aim to root out fraud, and this article explains what changed, who will be affected, and why the administration says the overhaul is necessary.
SNAP is the primary federal program that helps low-income households buy food, covering roughly 42 million people in about 22.4 million households. That translates to nearly one in eight Americans and about one in six households relying on the benefit at some point. Children make up about 39 percent of recipients, people with disabilities around 10 percent, and the elderly about 20 percent of the rolls.
The federal tab for SNAP in Fiscal Year 2024 was roughly $100.3 billion, with about $7 billion of that sent to states for program administration. Average benefits worked out to about six dollars per person per day in FY2024, which puts social media footage showing thousands on EBT cards into perspective: those clips are either fabricated or evidence of criminal behavior. Practical reform aims to protect taxpayer money while keeping help available for genuine need.
The new spending bill signed into law dramatically reduces SNAP outlays, with a headline figure near $186 billion in cuts and tighter eligibility rules. One big change raises the age range for the able-bodied adult work requirement to 18 through 64, forcing those individuals to work 80 hours a month or participate in education, training, or community service to avoid time limits. Where the program previously set the upper age around 54 for that category, the expanded range will affect many more people.
Exemptions that once protected groups like veterans, those experiencing homelessness, and foster youth have been narrowed or removed from the broader ABAWD framework. The caregiver exemption that spared those caring for children was tightened, now applying only for caregivers of children under 14 instead of under 18. States also face a harder standard to qualify for waivers: only areas crossing a 10 percent unemployment threshold can get relief, limiting flexibility that was once based on local labor market assessments.
- Federal administrative cost sharing will shift, with the federal contribution dropping from 75 percent to 50 percent, moving more financial responsibility to states.
- Most non-citizen beneficiaries, including about a quarter million refugees and humanitarian visa holders, will lose eligibility under the new rules.
These changes are designed to reduce rolls and federal spending, and officials estimate administrative and eligibility tweaks could pare enrollment by millions. Some projections suggest work requirements alone could remove as many as 2.4 million people from rolls, with total reductions potentially in the neighborhood of 3 million recipients. That outcome aligns with goals to return program size to pre-COVID participation levels near 37 million.
Beyond eligibility edits, the law targets fraud, which the administration argues is rampant and costly. Investigations have exposed organized schemes that used unauthorized equipment and falsified applications to drain benefits. Federal prosecutors have detailed networks set up to process illegal EBT transactions and to obtain terminals for ineligible outlets.
Starting in 2019, KEHOE orchestrated a network that supplied approximately 160 unauthorized EBT terminals to stores across the New York area to illegally process more than $30 million in EBT transactions. Working with his codefendants NAWAFLEH, OMAR ALRAWASHDEH, OBAID, and EMAD ALRAWASHDEH, KEHOE submitted approximately 200 fraudulent USDA applications, misappropriating USDA license numbers and, in some cases, doctoring application documents, to obtain EBT terminals for unauthorized stores—including smoke shops and other ineligible businesses.
USDA leadership has publicly highlighted audited mismatches between SNAP rolls and Social Security records, claiming the agency found hundreds of thousands of suspect records when states cooperated. That investigative work uncovered a troubling number of accounts tied to deceased individuals in the states that provided data, and if extrapolated nationwide the counts could exceed half a million questionable entries. Rooting out those cases is central to the administration’s argument that reform will save money and restore program integrity.
Data from just 29 states uncovered nearly 200,000 people with dead people’s social security numbers… Meanwhile, 21 states are suing to keep their data hidden.
There are trade-offs. Critics warn that tougher rules will push some vulnerable people off assistance who still need help, and state governments will face higher administrative costs. Supporters counter that the nation cannot tolerate systemic waste and that tightening eligibility and prosecuting fraud will protect both taxpayers and the program’s future.
SNAP remains a vital safety net for millions, but the recent package shifts responsibility toward work and verification, and it forces states and federal officials to do more policing and less passive enrollment. The coming months will show how these changes affect families, state budgets, and the program’s ability to target help while cutting fraud and backroom abuse.
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