WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 10, 2026) — The Alliance to End Hunger urges action to oppose two proposed rules from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that would further threaten access to federal nutrition programs.
“More than 5.5 million people in need – including more than 1.5 million kids – have already lost access to essential nutrition assistance through SNAP since the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” says Eric Mitchell, president of the Alliance to End Hunger. “Adding obstacles to accessing crucial programs such as SNAP fundamentally goes against who we are as a country. We need to be prioritizing the needs of our neighbors, not demonizing them.”
The rules out of USDA are as follows:
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Reforming Categorical Eligibility. This proposed rule would reduce eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through what is known as “broad-based categorical eligibility.” It is estimated that this rule would directly reduce SNAP participation by 6.3 million people, including nearly 2 million children. Loss of this automatic eligibility could have further downstream impacts, such as the loss of automatic qualification for free and reduced-price school meals and WIC. Seniors on fixed incomes will be significantly affected.
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Modification to Work Requirements for Able-Bodied Adults. This proposed rule expands on changes legislated through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, adding documentation burdens for those eligible for SNAP including veterans, unhoused people and youth aging out of foster care. It would also limit flexibility for states to request exemptions based on high unemployment rates.
USDA has provided only a 30-day comment period before implementation. The comment period ends on December 10, one day before the continuing resolution currently funding the government expires.
These proposed rules come amid broader, fundamental changes to SNAP and increasing costs and complexity to the state and county administering agencies. Chief among them are higher administrative costs recently shifted to states and a looming shift of SNAP benefit costs from the federal government to states, which could threaten states’ ability to provide SNAP to everyone who needs it.
As the year comes to a close and a new Congress takes office, the Alliance to End Hunger will work with policymakers to once again ensure that access to critical nutrition programs is not curtailed for those who need it.
