The Trump administration is making it more difficult for Americans to access food stamps with a new policy that requires more recipients to work in order to receive their benefits, CNN reported.
This move will strip nearly 700,000 people of their access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Individuals in this group will now be required to work at least 20 hours a week for more than three months over a 36-month period to qualify for food stamps.
This new rule also limits states from waiving those standards for high unemployment areas and instead limits it to areas that have a 6 percent or higher rate of unemployment.
"We're taking action to reform our SNAP program in order to restore the dignity of work to a sizable segment of our population and be respectful of the taxpayers who fund the program," Perdue said, according to NBC News.
He continued, "Americans are generous people who believe it is their responsibility to help their fellow citizens when they encounter a difficult stretch. That's the commitment behind SNAP but, like other welfare programs, it was never intended to be a way of life."
Another proposed regulation is to tighten the requirements for the food stamp program so as to limit Americans with somewhat higher incomes from accessing benefits.
This would see more than 3 million people lose their food stamps and leave some 500,000 children without free meals at school.
The Agriculture Department also found that 2.1 million individuals on SNAP are not working.
It estimates that the Trump administration's changes to the program will save roughly $5.5 billion over the course of five years by cutting benefits for about 688,000 people — down from the original estimate of 750,000 people.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement in response to the benefits slash :
"Instead of combating food insecurity for millions, connecting workers to good-paying jobs or addressing income inequality, the administration is inflicting their draconian rule on millions of Americans across the nation who face the highest barriers to employment and economic stability."
