04.17.25

Cantwell, Senate Democrats Warn About Republicans Raising Food Costs to Give Tax Breaks to Billionaires

“Congress should not give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans by taking away food assistance from millions of Americans,” wrote the senators More than 1 in 10 Washingtonians use SNAP to purchase food, half of whom are in families supporting children

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance, joined 45 Senate Democratic colleagues in sending an open letter to the American public warning that Congressional Republicans are trying to take food away from hungry families in order to give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans.

The budget plan that Congressional Republicans are currently pushing will require deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to fund the planned tax breaks. Their plan demonstrates that, after promising to lower prices for families, Republicans in Congress are instead making it more difficult for families to put food on the table.

“Congress should not give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans by taking away food assistance from millions of Americans,” wrote the senators.

“SNAP supports 42 million Americans, including nearly 8 million seniors, 16 million children, 4 million people with disabilities, and 1.2 million veterans, in putting food on their tables each month,” they continued. “Cuts of this magnitude—or anything close to it—would be devastating to American families in every state.”

SNAP is used by 888,300 Washington residents, or 11% of the state’s population. More than 53% of SNAP participants in Washington are in families with children, and more than 38% are in families with members who are older adults or are disabled.

Along with Sen. Cantwell, the letter was signed by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and 43 other Senate Democrats.

The full text of the letter can be found HERE.

The GOP’s budget plan will also require significant cuts to Medicaid, a central pillar of Washington state’s health care system, and under President Trump’s direction, Elon Musk’s DOGE team has targeted Social Security for drastic reductions.

In March, Sen. Cantwell heard from voices across Washington state about the dangers of President Trump and the GOP’s proposed cuts to Medicaid. Doctors, patients, and health care providers in Seattle, Spokane, and the Tri-Cities warned that such cuts would devastate Washington state’s health care system and limit access to lifesaving care. Sen. Cantwell spoke out against President Trump’s nomination of Dr. Mehmet Oz to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; in his nomination hearing, she pressed him repeatedly on his willingness to stand up for Medicaid funding. She ultimately voted against his nomination, citing his refusal to stick up for Medicaid during the hearing, which is of particular concern given the Republicans’ draconian budget bill, which would require massive cuts.

Sen. Cantwell is also fighting against President Trump’s plans to cut Social Security. As a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, she highlighted the danger that the President’s nominee to head the Social Security Administration, Frank Bisignano, poses to the program. At his confirmation hearing, she mentioned the story of a constituent in Seattle who was incorrectly presumed dead shortly after Elon Musk sicced his DOGE team on the Social Security Administration to hunt down unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud.  Sen. Cantwell voted against his nomination in committee.  The full Senate has yet to vote on the nomination.

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