Americans brace for Trump's welfare cuts

[Judi Lynn]

8 hours ago

Ana Faguy
BBC News
Reporting fromMartinsburg, West Virginia

Elizabeth Butler goes from one supermarket to the next in her hometown of Martinsburg, West Virginia, to ensure she gets the best price on each item on her grocery list.

Along with 42 million Americans, she pays for those groceries with federal food subsides. That cash doesn't cover the whole bill for her family of three.

"Our food doesn't even last the month," she says. "I'm going to all these different places just to make sure that we have enough food to last us the whole month."

But that money may soon run out, as Congress gears up to vote on what US President Donald Trump has coined his "big beautiful bill".

The food subsidy programme that Ms Butler uses - called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP - is one of many items on the chopping block, as Congress tries to reconcile the president's seemingly conflicting demands to both lower taxes and balance the budget

The Senate is due to vote on their version of the bill by the end of the week. If it passes, it will then be voted on by the House, at which point it will be sent to Trump to sign. He has pressured both chambers of Congress, which the Republican Party controls, to pass the bill by 4 July.



More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx0e9p9nrko