Cuts to food stamps, school meals delayed

WASHINGTON — Amid widespread condemnation, the Trump administration may be softening on a proposal to toughen access to food stamps and free school meals, reopening public comment on a regulatory change that would deprive food assistance to millions of Americans.

Nearly 3 million people could lose access to food stamps under the proposed rule, according to the Agriculture Department’s own estimates. A second analysis released this week estimated that nearly 1 million children would lose automatic eligibility for free or reduced-price school meals, double the agency’s initial estimate.

The second analysis became public only after Rep. Robert Scott, D-Va., chairman of the House Education Committee, pushed for the Agriculture Department to release information that USDA officials had privately told his staff. Their initial estimate of the number of children who could lose automatic eligibility for free school meals, 500,000, was almost half the newest figure.

“While I appreciate that the USDA finally released its analysis, which I requested several times over the last three months, this small step forward in transparency is overshadowed by a tremendous step backward in the fight against child hunger,” Scott said in a statement.

In a rare show of flexibility for an administration that has usually pressed forward with regulatory changes despite protests, the public comment period will be reopened for 14 days so the public can weigh in on the second analysis. Almost 130,000 public comments already have been received, most of them in strong opposition to the rule change. That is not likely to change.

“The additional analysis is woefully inadequate at addressing the concerns raised by tens of thousands of commenters and does nothing to mitigate the harm to low-income children from the underlying proposal,” said Zoe Neuberger, a senior policy analyst at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The Trump administration has tried three times now to reduce funding for or limit access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or the food assistance program. But this is the first time the administration has accommodated opponents to a rule amid criticism.