Press Releases

Sunrise, FL – Today, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) joined nutrition assistance leaders and SNAP recipients to sound the alarm on how the Trump Administration’s heartless, unlawful withholding of emergency SNAP funds amid a Republican shutdown needlessly harms millions of Floridians.

Watch the full press conference here.

Instead of sitting down with Democrats and negotiating to reopen the federal government and lower health care costs, President Trump has weaponized hunger and delayed SNAP benefits to 3 million Floridians, including children, seniors, and veterans – all despite Congressionally authorized contingency funds being specifically set aside and available to provide this assistance. Forty-two million Americans nationwide count on these food benefits.

“America faces a dire Republican healthcare crisis, and now – despite having the power to avoid it – President Trump has plunged America into a potential hunger crisis,” said Wasserman Schultz. “Rather than sit down with Democrats to negotiate a plan to get us out of this mess, Trump is intentionally making it as painful as possible.”

“A large number of the people we serve are people who are working full-time jobs, but whose wages are out of balance with the cost of living in Broward County,” said Denise Brown, CEO of LifeNet4Families. “Recent reports suggest that 50% of Broward County’s residents live paycheck to paycheck. This means that these families constantly live on the verge of financial collapse.”

The LifeNet4Families CEO also announced that the Children Services Council, the Jim Moran Foundation, United Way of Broward County, Community Foundation, Feeding South Florida, and HANDY Inc. will partner with LifeNet4Families to keep their food pantry open six days a week to SNAP recipients and furloughed government workers, staying open from 7:30AM to 6:30PM Monday through Friday and 7:30AM until noon on Saturdays.

“With the holidays coming up, you know that food costs go up, and food becomes more important for families,” said Flordaliza Jimenez, a Broward County resident and SNAP recipient. “I really want Republicans to sit down with Democrats and work this out. There’s a lot of high costs right now, and there’s a lot going up, not coming down. Rent, utilities, medical costs, it’s all going up, and it’s cutting into my food budget month-to-month.”

“It’s really a sad day that we have to be here to talk about eating and basic things that we sometimes normally take for granted,” said Annete Chang, a Broward County resident and SNAP recipient. “When I was approved for $100 – you know, it doesn’t sound like a lot, but it really made a difference in my life. And I know that this pause will create a deficit in my ability to manage sustainably…You know we live in the richest country in the world, why are we weaponizing hunger?”

“I thought it was a joke, to be honest. I thought they were going to release the funds. They can’t let us go without having the funds. But when I woke up on the first and checked, it wasn’t there,” said Sheba McKinon, a Broward County resident, SNAP recipient, and LifeNet4Families employee. “My rent was due on the first, but I have until the fifth to pay it, so I took partial payment from that to go to the grocery store and make sure me and the kids are okay.”

Two federal courts ruled the Trump Administration is required to spend funding appropriated by Congress to sustain nutritional assistance benefits, yet it’s still not clear how quickly the president will comply. The intentional delay leaves struggling families in doubt and further overwhelms food pantries who will now face even more demand. Withholding these funds comes after Congressional Republicans passed the largest ever cut to SNAP in the Big Ugly Law, slashing more than $186 billion in funding. Here’s a list of local SNAP impacts around the state and nation, broken down by congressional districts.  

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