The number of Americans who lost all food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is about double the projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). About 5.5 million individuals have lost all food assistance through SNAP since the July 4, 2025 passage of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” according to an October 22 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). This does not include the millions of Americans who saw their SNAP benefits reduced. The CBO also projected that SNAP spending would drop by $6 billion per year, but in reality SNAP food assistance fell by $11 billion in fiscal year 2026. The Congressional Budget Office originally estimated that the One Big Beautiful Bill would cut $187 billion in SNAP funding through 2034.

In 2027 millions more Americans are expected to lose SNAP benefits as more funding responsibilities are shifted to the states. The CBPP report estimates that about 2 million children lost all SNAP benefits from July 2025 to July 2026. The report also states that SNAP participation is at the lowest point in 17 years. SNAP primarily serves children, the elderly, and the disabled.