Senate Democrats accused their Republican colleagues of rewarding waste in government spending with a proposal that would delay SNAP cuts for at least a year for states with high error rates.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, said she will force a vote on the proposal for food stamps, which she called the “most absurd example of the hypocrisy of the Republican bill”.
The package includes new 80-hour-a-month work requirements for many adults receiving Medicaid and SNAP, including older people up to age 65. Parents of children 14 and older would have to meet the program’s work requirements.
“If they keep it high for another year, they get another [year] of delay. Insanity reigns. Rewarding errors,” Klobuchar posted to X, formerly Twitter, as the Senate votes on President Donald Trump‘s One, Big, Beautiful Bill.
The issue centers on an exemption for Alaska from SNAP cuts in the bill. Klobuchar said the proposal to extend up to a two-year delay to all states with high error rates is intended by Republicans to “bury their help for Alaska” in the bill.
The exemption and other provisions for the state were secured by Alaska’s Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who has not yet signalled if she will support the final package.
Other Democrats commented on the proposal. “So the states that waste the MOST money get no cuts,” Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, posted to X. “Up is down.”
Senator Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat and chief deputy whip, said the propsal “is exactly why bills that are done in a rush with no hearings at all are always a mess.”
“GOOD NEWS IF YOUR STATE HAS A HIGH ERROR RATE FOR SNAP YOU DONT GET SNAP CUTS FOR A YEAR AND IF YOU KEEP YOUR ERROR RATE HIGH YOU GET ANOTHER YEAR WE ARE CUTTING WASTE FRAUD AND ABUUUUUUUUUSE,” Schatz posted to X.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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