More people could lose food stamp benefits under Trump administration proposal

The Trump administration wants to change how people can qualify for the federal food stamp program in ways that would eliminate grocery benefits for 6.3 million Americans in the years to come, including tens of thousands in New Jersey.

A proposed rule change announced Tuesday would end automatic food stamp eligibility for certain families that get temporary emergency benefits, something federal officials framed as a technical fix needed to protect the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for those who need it most.

Critics of the change say it would be major, especially on top of other shifts that have shrunk program funding and raised eligibility hurdles. Work requirements and other changes have already forced some 5.5 million people out of the program, according to the Associated Press. The program now serves some 36.6 million people nationwide.

Elizabeth McCarthy, president and CEO of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, said the group worries about how the changes will impact food-stamp recipients and the additional administrative burden these proposed changes would place on the county workers who enroll people in the program, a system that is already strained.

County welfare offices now face extreme pressure with massive paperwork changes to Medicaid, temporary assistance, and other social service programs, the result of a bill Trump signed in July 2025 that eliminated billions in federal funding for safety net services. These changes are already endangering benefits, advocates say.

“These changes could make it more difficult for families to access and maintain the food assistance they rely on,” McCarthy said.

In New Jersey, the food stamp program provides monthly help to some 430,000 households, benefiting about 860,000 individuals. Most of these households include a working adult, half have young children, and 44% have a member who is disabled, according to state data. Benefits are based on income level and average less than $200 per month.

The state Department of Human Services, which administers food stamps in New Jersey, could not say how many households might be impacted by the change Thursday, and officials were unable to comment. Federal officials estimated the rule change would end coverage for nearly 17% of households, or more than 73,000 in New Jersey.

The rule proposal notes the change, if approved, would also mean nearly 1.8 million children would no longer automatically qualify for free school lunch, although almost all would be able to access reduced-cost or free meals in other ways. Tens of thousands of families could also be cut from a program that provides cash for meals in the summer, and at least 5,500 women would no longer qualify for nutritional benefits for newborns, it says.

Under the current rules, families that receive emergency benefits through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program automatically qualify for food stamps in an effort to reduce paperwork. But while states can decide who qualifies for these temporary benefits, the federal government essentially limits participation in the food stamp program to those who earn 130% of the federal poverty level, or just under $43,000 for four people.

Over the decades, many states have expanded access to temporary benefits, in part by limiting what counts against a family when determining their worth. As more people qualified for temporary assistance, more people got food stamps, something the Trump administration said has become so distorted that in some states the owner of a home valued at $1 million could qualify for food assistance if they had no regular income.

“It is irresponsible to Congress and the taxpayer to support regulations that permit this practice,” the proposed rule states.

The change would reduce spending by some $44.6 billion over five years, according to the proposal, reducing funding to the states by hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

In a statement, New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex), who has led efforts to expand funding for food stamps, blasted the Trump administration proposal, saying it is not an attempt to eliminate waste or to make government more efficient.

“They’re deliberate attempts to push people off food assistance by making it harder to qualify and stay enrolled,” Coughlin said, adding, “We shouldn’t have to keep fighting Washington just to make sure people can afford to eat.”

The federal cutbacks to food stamps have already cost New Jersey taxpayers. Gov. Mikie Sherrill included $71 million in the current state budget to fill a gap left when the Trump administration reduced what it pays for states to administer the program.