Are Food Stamps Being Cut? Work Rules, Benefit Cuts, and Appeals

Yes, food stamps are being cut. A federal law signed on July 4, 2025 (P.L. 119-21) reduces SNAP spending by nearly $187 billion over the next decade, the largest reduction in the program’s history.¹ The cuts come from four directions at once: work requirements now reach millions more adults, benefit growth is capped, two common deductions are being narrowed, and some noncitizens who used to qualify no longer do. Some pieces took effect on signing; others phase in through 2028.

Who Now Has to Work to Keep Benefits

The biggest change in reach is the work rule. Before the 2025 law, only adults aged 18 through 54 without dependents had to work or train at least 20 hours a week to keep benefits past three months in any three-year period. The new law raises that ceiling to 64 and, for the first time, applies the time limit to parents whose youngest child is 14 or older.¹

Three groups that were specifically protected under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 lose those protections: veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and adults 24 or younger who were in foster care on their 18th birthday.² Exemptions still apply for people with physical or mental limitations, pregnant individuals, and caregivers of a child under the age threshold.

States used to be able to waive the time limit for areas with high unemployment or too few jobs.³ Now waivers are limited to areas with unemployment above 10%, with a narrow additional path in Alaska and Hawaii for areas at 1.5 times the national rate.¹ Fewer areas will qualify, and more residents in high-unemployment regions will be on the clock.

What’s Happening to Your Monthly Benefit

Two changes will shrink monthly checks even for people who keep qualifying.

First, the benefit ceiling itself is being locked down. SNAP’s maximum benefit is tied to the Thrifty Food Plan, USDA’s estimate of what a basic nutritious diet costs for a family of four.⁴ A 2021 reevaluation of the underlying market basket raised maximum benefits meaningfully. The 2025 law forbids a repeat: starting no earlier than October 2027, USDA may reevaluate the market basket, but any resulting change cannot exceed the rate of inflation.¹ Benefits can’t grow faster than prices, whatever a future review finds about the true cost of a healthy diet.

Second, two deductions that reduce your countable income (and therefore raise your benefit) are being narrowed:

Internet costs can no longer be counted toward the excess shelter expense deduction. Households that had been including a monthly internet bill will see their shelter deduction shrink.¹
A token payment from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) will no longer automatically qualify a non-elderly, non-disabled household for the full Standard Utility Allowance. Affected households will need to document actual utility bills or accept a smaller deduction.¹

Both changes work the same way in the end: less deduction means more countable income, and more countable income means a smaller monthly benefit.

Noncitizens Who Lose Eligibility

SNAP eligibility for noncitizens is now limited to lawful permanent residents (still subject to the existing five-year waiting period), Cuban-Haitian entrants, and migrants from Compact of Free Association nations lawfully residing in the United States.¹ Other categories that previously qualified, including some refugees and asylum seekers, no longer do.

The State Cost Shift and Why It Matters to You

The federal government has historically paid all SNAP benefit costs and about half of state administrative costs. That’s changing. Beginning in fiscal year 2028, states with payment error rates of 6% or higher will pay between 5% and 15% of benefit costs, depending on how high their error rate runs.¹ Starting in fiscal year 2027, the federal share of administrative costs drops to 25%.

For recipients, this shows up as friction rather than as a rule change. States under budget pressure tend to tighten eligibility screening, cut outreach, and process applications more slowly. Longer waits and more paperwork are the practical result.

What Was Already Cut Before This Law

If your benefits dropped sharply in 2023, that wasn’t the new law. Pandemic-era emergency allotments, which had guaranteed every SNAP household the maximum benefit for its size plus at least $95 extra per month, were terminated after February 2023 by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.⁵⁶ Households that had been receiving $516 a month sometimes dropped to $250 or less overnight. That reduction was permanent, and the 2025 law layers on top of it.

Deductions to Claim So You Don’t Lose More Than You Have To

Because SNAP calculates benefits from net income, every legitimate deduction you report raises your check. Households frequently under-report expenses that would qualify. For FY2026, the ones most worth checking are:

The excess shelter deduction covers rent or mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and utilities above half your income after other deductions, capped at $744 per month. Households with elderly or disabled members face no cap. Internet costs no longer count under the new law, but everything else still does.⁷
The medical expense deduction lets households with an elderly or disabled member deduct out-of-pocket medical costs above $35 a month. Prescriptions, co-pays, medical equipment, and transportation to appointments all qualify. This one is routinely missed.⁸
The dependent care deduction covers what you pay for childcare or care of a disabled household member so someone in the household can work or train.
The earned income deduction automatically excludes 20% of gross earnings before calculating net income.

If your check dropped and you haven’t updated your file recently, list every shelter, utility, medical, and care expense you actually pay and ask your caseworker to recompute. Small additions to your deductions can meaningfully change the monthly amount.

How to Appeal a Reduction

Any notice reducing or ending your benefits must explain why, and you have the right to a fair hearing. Federal rules give you 90 days from the date of the action to file.⁹

Timing changes the stakes. If you file within the advance notice period printed on your letter (usually a much shorter window than 90 days), your benefits continue at the prior level while you wait for a decision. File after that window but still inside 90 days and your appeal is heard, but you receive the reduced amount in the meantime.⁹ The difference between filing in 10 days and filing in 30 can add up to months of reduced benefits while you wait, so read every date on the notice before you do anything else.

If the hearing goes against you, the state can recover any extra benefits you received during the appeal. If it goes in your favor, your benefits are restored and any underpayment is corrected. You can also request a hearing at any point during your certification period if you believe your current benefit is wrong.

1
Congress.gov. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Related Provisions in P.L. 119-21
2
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements
3
Food and Nutrition Service. ABAWD Waivers
4
Food and Nutrition Service. USDA Food Plans
5
U.S. Government Publishing Office. Families First Coronavirus Response Act
6
GovDelivery. SNAP Emergency Allotments to End by March
7
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP FY2026 Maximum Allotments and Deductions
8
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Medical Expenses Handbook
9
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.15 – Fair Hearings