SNAP cost federal taxpayers $101.7 billion in fiscal year 2025, and fights over who pays for the program going forward may prevent Congress from passing a Farm Bill before the current session ends Dec. 18, 2026.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — called the Food Stamp program until 2008 — is the biggest line item in the Farm Bill, accounting for about 69 percent of USDA nutrition assistance spending in FY 2025. At issue is the federal government's plan to shift some benefit costs to states beginning in October 2027 and more administrative costs beginning this October. The stated goal is to bring payment error rates under control.

The stakes are measurable. For FY 2025, the combined national error rate was 10.62 percent — 1.33 percent attributed to underpayments and 9.28 percent to overpayments — translating into nearly $11 billion in errors for the year, most of them overpayments.

A tight legislative calendar

Congress has not passed a Farm Bill since 2018. The House passed its latest version in April. Senate Republicans could not move their version out of committee until Sept. 16, when Democrats' unified opposition — and the summer absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-KY, after a serious fall in June — kept the bill bottled up. The Senate Committee on Agriculture sent "Farm Bill 2.0" to the floor on a party-line vote of 12 to 11 after McConnell's return.

Democrats have objected to SNAP eligibility changes in the omnibus One Big Beautiful Bill since July 2025, including the shift of more administrative costs to states. They have also pressed concerns in committee about requiring states to cover more of SNAP's administrative costs when a state's payment error rate exceeds a certain percentage.

The calendar compresses everything. The Senate has no legislative days scheduled in October, eight in November and 14 in December, with a target adjournment date of Dec. 18, 2026. Whether the Farm Bill ranks as a priority in that window remains to be seen.

Shrinking rolls, steady fraud enforcement

SNAP enrollment is declining from pandemic-era peaks. In May 2026, 19,951,747 households received benefits, down 11.5 percent from May 2025. Individual enrollment totaled 36,685,024, down 12.3 percent from 41,847,818 a year earlier. There is no immediate evidence the reductions stem from recent eligibility changes rather than economic improvement.

The program carries its own fraud unit under USDA's Food and Nutrition Administration, which has disqualified or suspended 6,000 retailers and disabled or blocked more than 2,000 illegal point-of-sale devices. Most fraud schemes convert SNAP benefits into cash. "Operation SNAP Back" is currently targeting fraudulent SNAP retailers — bodegas, convenience stores and grocery stores — across New York City's five boroughs, with undercover investigations producing action against 170 retailers.

The eligibility math

For fiscal 2026, household income before deductions must generally be at or below 130 percent of the Federal Poverty Line — $1,696 gross monthly for an individual. Net monthly income after allowable deductions (housing costs, childcare, out-of-pocket medical expenses) must be at or below 100 percent of the FPL, or $1,305 for an individual. The One Big Beautiful Bill extended work requirements to people ages 55 through 64 with school-aged children, requiring proof of work or approved job training.

Asset limits add another hurdle. The most common cap is $3,000 in countable resources, rising to $4,500 for households with a member over 60 or with a disability. More than 40 states use USDA's Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility option, which raises gross income limits to as much as $2,608 monthly for an individual (200 percent of FPL) and $5,358 for a family of four, and typically eliminates the asset test. Some states set BBCE thresholds at 185 percent or 165 percent of FPL.

The average monthly benefit paid to an individual in FY 2025 was $187.94; the household average is $351.92 in the current fiscal year. Actual payments vary by state — Minnesota and Wisconsin rank among the lowest averages, while Massachusetts, New York and Illinois rank among the highest.

A program built over decades

Food stamps began as a New Deal pilot running 1939 to 1943, distributing unmarketable surpluses to the unemployed. The Kennedy Administration revived the pilot in 1961, and the Food Stamp Act of 1964 made it permanent. The program went nationwide by July 1, 1974, and the 1977 Food Stamp Reform Act eliminated the requirement that participants pay for a portion of their stamps.

Criticisms of the program today include its taxpayer cost, benefit trafficking, the ability to purchase junk food and soda, and administrative burdens that restrict access. Advocates counter that it reduces food insecurity, lifts families out of poverty, improves health outcomes for low-income children and supports low-wage workers during underemployment.

In past years, Republicans and Democrats would compromise on SNAP eligibility and cost disputes. That has not happened this year, and the clock is running down on a solution before adjournment.