Project 2025: The 2025 Presidential Transition Project: on Welfare & Poverty


Donald Trump: Waive work requirement only if unemployment over 6%

Waivers from statutory work requirements [for welfare recipients] can be approved in two instances: an unemployment rate of more than 10 percent or a lack of sufficient jobs. The Trump Administration bolstered USDA work expectations in the food stamp program. In February 2019, FNS issued a modest regulatory change that applied only to able-bodied individuals without dependents-- Under the new rule, in order to waive the work requirement, the state's unemployment rate had to be above 6 percent for more than 24 months. The Trump reform was scheduled to go into effect, but a D.C. district court federal judge enjoined the rule. The USDA filed an appeal in late December 2020, but the Biden Administration withdrew from defending the challenge, and the rule was never implemented.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.299 Apr 1, 2023

Heritage Foundation: Re-implement workfare; close food stamp loopholes

Ostensibly, SNAP helps "low-income" individuals buy food. Food stamps are designed to be supplemented by other forms of income--whether through paid employment or nonprofit support. SNAP serves 41.1 million individuals--an increase of 4.3 million people during the Biden years. In 2020, the food stamp program cost $79.1 billion. That number continued to rise--by 2022, outlays hit $119.5 billion. The next Administration should: