Chair Thompson’s Plan Would Cut SNAP Benefits and Ignore Scientific Evidence in Thrifty Food Plan Updates

The proposal would reportedly freeze the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), the basis for SNAP benefits, outside of inflation adjustments.1 According to Thompson, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates this would result in a roughly $30 billion SNAP cut over the next decade, a cut that would affect every SNAP participant.2 Over the longer term, the cuts would grow larger and SNAP benefi. [...] This proposal would limit the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) authority to adjust the cost of the TFP to accurately reflect the cost of a frugal, healthy diet. [...] 4 FIGURE 2 Freezing the Cost of the TFP Would Force USDA to Ignore Scientific Evidence Food price inflation is only one factor influencing the cost of a healthy diet, as Congress recognized in revising the TFP process in the 2018 farm bill. [...] Contrary to Chair Thompson’s stated rationale, outlined in a recent op-ed, this change is not required to prevent a future administration from using the TFP revision process to “indiscriminately expand or decimate the benefit.”11 The 2018 farm bill directed the Secretary of Agriculture to regularly reevaluate the TFP based on food prices, food composition data, consumption patterns, and dietary gu. [...] The 2021 TFP revision was a “substantial improvement in transparency,” according to a 2023 letter from economists with expertise in SNAP and the TFP.12 USDA’s experts rigorously documented its review of existing research, explained the methods and outcomes of the reevaluation in an extensive report, published data used in the TFP model on its website, and provided additional resources, including b.