Critics of last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) argue that the Trump administration is stripping vulnerable households of crucial benefits, citing a $187 billion reduction in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding over the next decade. Since the OBBBA’s passage last summer, the number of food-stamp recipients has declined by over 4.1 million while food prices have risen. But there is much more to this story.

First, these headline numbers lack historical context. COVID-era emergency measures expanded SNAP far beyond its previous intent and baseline. Congress let states issue every household the maximum benefit regardless of income, and later layered on a 15% increase through the American Rescue Plan. Both changes were explicitly temporary and expired by mid-2023, but another did not: the 2021 Thrifty Food Plan reevaluation, which permanently raised benefits by roughly 21%.