1. United States
2. Ind.
3. Letter

I am writing for the third time to ask why the SNAP contingency funds are not being used to keep the program running. According to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, 3 billion dollars in funding is to remain available through September 30, 2026 for use in carrying out program operations. Not only does the law allow for the use of this funding in this case, the Trump administration, in this term and the last, has indicated knowledge that the funding can be used for SNAP. 1 in 8 Americans, including your constituents, rely on SNAP to pay their grocery bills. I understand that politics involve manipulation and pointing the finger at the “opposition”, but in the real world, millions of Americans are about to go hungry as the weather gets colder. We now also have people using AI models to create fake videos of SNAP recipients trying to use their cards at places that don’t accept them. These videos often feature black women and are deeply racist and classist. The attitude around access to food in America is appalling, and your party is making it worse by holding those contingency funds hostage. Every hungry American, every American who feels shame for needing help feeding themselves and their family, every American who goes on thinking that food is a privilege rather than a right, is on you. Use the contingency fund to keep SNAP going. Now. I would like a response to my concerns. Thank you.