“The Trump administration continued its unrelenting assault on our nation’s most vulnerable families this week when it proposed a rule to take crucial food assistance away from more than three million people. The impact of this rule would be more hunger in America, more families struggling to meet their basic needs, and more children with health and learning problems driven by hunger.

“The proposed rule sidesteps the will of Congress, reaffirmed with bipartisan support just last year in the Farm Bill, by eliminating the broad-based categorical eligibility option for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This vital option, which has been working well for 20 years and has been adopted over time by more than 30 states, allows states to extend SNAP benefits to families who already qualify for other government assistance programs, among other things. Trump’s proposed rule would take away this option, causing hundreds of thousands of children to lose their automatic eligibility for free school lunches and stripping families of vital food assistance. It would trap people in poverty and punish those who work. Seniors and people with disabilities would also suffer.

“There is no justification for this proposed rule, which shows, once again, this administration’s hostility and callousness toward struggling families. America’s moms will fight hard to block this damaging proposal. We want our government to do more, not less, for people in poverty and for children and families at risk. These once were our priorities as a nation and should be once again.”