Photos and Video: Rep. Dan Goldman and Impacted New Yorkers Rally Against Trump Administration Intentionally Witholding SNAP Food Assistance

 

 

 

NEW YORK, NY — As the GOP shutdown enters its third week, Congressman Dan Goldman hosted a rally with elected officials and impacted New Yorkers today to condemn the Trump administration’s arbitrary and intentionally punitive decision to prevent states across the country from disbursing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds, which 3 million New Yorkers and 40 million Americans rely on to put food on the table. 

 

Congressman Goldman was joined by Senator Brian Kavanagh, Assemblymember Grace Lee, Councilmember Chris Marte, NYCHA Baruch Houses President and SNAP recipient Camille Napoleon, and Damaris Reyes, Executive Director of GOLES. 

  

“On November 1, Donald Trump will intentionally and unnecessarily cut off food assistance for three million New Yorkers,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “He’s starving our most vulnerable communities just to punish Democrats for fighting to  protect affordable health care. This is an unacceptable assault on our working families, and I’m proud to stand with my colleagues from across New York City to condemn it and pressure New York Republicans like Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, and Mike Lawler to protect the voters they were elected to represent.” 

 

The president’s deliberate, unnecessary, and unprecedented decision comes after the passage of his signature “Big Ugly Bill,” which, when fully implemented, will kick over 300,000 New Yorkers off of SNAP, rip over a million New Yorkers off their insurance, and impose over 1 billion dollars in new spending on New York State.  

 

During passage of the Republican tax bill, Congressman introduced an amendment to strike the provision that increases state responsibility for SNAP administrative costs from 50% to 75%, which would otherwise add an estimated $225 million in annual costs to New York State. This amendment would have restored the current 50-50 SNAP cost-sharing split between state and federal funding. 

 

This summer, Congressman Goldman along with Assemblymember Grace Lee and Councilmember Susan Zhuang, held a press conference to highlight the devastating impact of SNAP cuts included in the Republicans’ "Big Ugly" Reconciliation Bill. They condemned the proposed cuts as a direct threat to AAPI small businesses, vulnerable New Yorkers, and already-strained food banks across the city.