WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans’ budget resolution may cut millions in funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and Medicaid. Iowa House Republicans say it will cut waste, fraud, and abuse, while anti-hunger advocates worry about strained resources.

The House’s budget resolution calls for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and a $2 trillion reduction in federal spending over a decade.

The budget resolution aims to reauthorize the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2025. The act, originally passed in 2017, was the largest tax code overhaul in roughly three decades.

If the reauthorization is not approved, it would immediately increase taxes on most tax brackets by up to 25 percent, according to the Tax Foundation.

The resolution does not dictate what taxes should be reduced and does not specify which programs should be cut, although Republicans have targeted food aid programs and Medicaid. Instead, it instructs certain committees to find savings of a certain amount in the spending under their jurisdiction. It is estimated the cuts would include $880 billion from Medicaid and $230 billion from SNAP, which is 20 percent of the program funding, over 10 years.

The resolution also directs an increase of roughly $300 billion for border enforcement and defense programs, paired with a $4 trillion increase to the debt limit.

All of Iowa’s House Republicans voted in favor of the resolution in February.

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, said in an interview with The Daily Iowan that Medicaid and food assistance benefits were largely expanded under President Donald Trump as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the expansion continued under the Biden administration, and roles created may no longer be needed.

“There is some reordering and restructuring,” she said.

The representative said under the Biden administration, states were unable to take ineligible people off of Medicaid, including people without a legal residency in the U.S. This was due to a pause in the re-enrollment process for Medicaid during the public health emergency.

“Do you think people that are ineligible for Medicaid should be on Medicaid?” she said. “If you were a legal immigrant and you were covered on Medicaid, illegal immigrants should not be there.”

Miller-Meeks said these types of policies are something most Americans agree with.

“Most importantly, we want people to do better,” Miller-Meeks said. “We want a better economy, a better economy where people are getting paid more, and prices are less. So, working on lowering prices so that their quality of life, ​​what they earn, goes further.”

Iowa Republican Ashley Hinson said in an interview with the DI that there is fear-mongering surrounding cuts to assistance for low-income individuals.

Hinson said the House hasn’t passed a single cut, and the number one priority when reviewing spending is getting rid of waste, fraud, and abuse.

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“We don’t want to cut benefits, but we want to cut that terrible stuff out of these programs so they can actually go to the people who need them,” Hinson said.

The programs need to be refocused to ensure they are as efficient as possible, Hinson said, and any “extra fluff” should be cut.

According to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, SNAP assisted about 260,000 Iowans every month in fiscal 2024. Iowa’s anti-hunger advocates warn that cuts to the program will devastate the hundreds of thousands of Iowans who rely on SNAP and Medicaid while exacerbating food insecurity.

Dozens of state organizations in Iowa sent a letter to Iowa’s congressional delegation in February asking them to protect Medicaid and SNAP.

“The reality is most Iowans cannot afford to pay more for food and health care,” the letter stated. “Household budgets are stretched thin. Cutting Medicaid and SNAP would increase families’ costs — and strain the local institutions Iowans rely on, like hospitals, nursing homes, food pantries and grocery stores.”

Luke Elzinga, a policy and advocacy manager at DMARC Food Pantry Network, said the organization was disappointed to see Iowa’s lawmakers vote in favor of the budget resolution.

“There is not a way to make such a massive cut to SNAP without doing harm,” he said.

Every time policy changes to SNAP are made, more people rely on food pantries, he said. Iowa’s food pantries hit a record-breaking summer following state changes to summer meal programs.

Elzinga said Iowa’s food pantries are continually asked to “do more with less.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled two programs that gave schools and food banks money to buy food from local farmers last month, and Elzinga said the decision cut about $3.9 million of funding for Iowa.

Federal cuts combined with initiatives in Iowa’s state legislature will reshape how many Iowans have access to food programs and Medicaid. The Iowa House passed bills last month restricting SNAP food eligibility and enforcing strict Medicaid work requirements.

“We’re very concerned about what’s happening right now and all the conversations that are going on in Congress about cuts to SNAP,” Elzinga said. “That’s the last thing we should be talking about right now.”