Republicans Advance Bill to Cut Food Assistance for Women and Children, Decimate Rural Assistance Grants

Republican fiscal year 2027 Agriculture funding bill cuts $200 million from grocery vouchers for women and children, hundreds of millions from rural aid programs

**NEW FACT SHEET** State and District Level Breakdown of Republican Cuts

WASHINGTON — Today, the House passed the Republican fiscal year 2027 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies funding bill. As costs for groceries go up, the bill cuts $200 million from fruit and vegetable vouchers for women, infants and children. While working families struggle to make ends meet, the bill decimates rural aid programs. A state- and district-level breakdown of the rural aid cuts can be found here.

The bill provides discretionary funding of $26.3 billion, which is $1.1 billion, or 4 percent, below fiscal year 2026. The bill:

• Increases costs for farmers and rural communities by steeply cutting critical investments, including water and waste grants to help the poorest communities get safer water services, and slashing the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) loans in half.
• Hurts farmers by cutting the number of federal and local employees who help them access government resources they are promised.
• Threatens access to food for hardworking and vulnerable Americans, failing to ensure that every eligible recipient can access their benefits, by not providing the full fruit and vegetable benefit to USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). 
• Slashes Food for Peace, which provides American farmers with additional revenue and helps feed hungry children around the globe, while USDA proceeds to start implementing the program after the administration gutted USAID.

“Everyone eats the food our country produces, needs safe medicine and clean water, relies on affordable fuel and utilities. Yet, today’s bill will see 5 million women, infants, and children go hungry, and it slashes funding for water and wastewater grants that poor communities need,” Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Sanford Bishop, Jr.’s (D-GA-02) said. “This bill guts rural energy programs, reduces rural broadband investments, and takes development grants away from our rural businesses. Just as our agricultural producers are getting hit with increased fuel and input costs from an unauthorized war in Iran and chaotic tariffs, farmers across the country are showing up to closed or understaffed USDA offices and this bill does nothing to fix it. And to make matters worse, this bill cuts funding for the Inspector General and Ethics offices at USDA which are responsible for rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse. We can and should work together to craft a better bill so that America is able to produce the highest quality, the safest, the most abundant, the most affordable, food, fiber, and medicine.” 

Congressman Sanford Bishop, Jr.’s full remarks are here.

“The cost of living crisis has sent prices for healthcare, groceries, gasoline, and utility bills skyrocketing. But instead of doing anything to provide relief to the American people, Republicans’ agriculture funding bill makes the problem even worse,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “While working families struggle to feed their families, Republicans are cutting funding for fruit and vegetable vouchers for women, infants, and children by $200 million. Working moms are already stretched thin, and Republicans are making it even harder to put dinner on the table. The president’s tariffs have hurt American farmers, and now the Republican plan is to cut off crucial assistance that they have come to rely on even more. By slashing the Food for Peace Program, this bill takes money out of the pockets of American farmers, and food out of the mouths of hungry children around the globe. And while millions of Americans are forced to shell out more and more for utility bills, this bill cuts funding for rural energy, rural water, and rural broadband programs that bring down costs for ratepayers and expand economic opportunity.”

Congresswoman DeLauro’s full remarks as prepared for delivery are here.

House Republicans continue to say that WIC participation so far in 2026 is below 2025. This claim is misleading and fails to tell the full story. For October through February, WIC participation is only 1.2 percent below 2025. The federal government was shut down during that period, which caused widespread confusion. Participation is likely to increase as food prices rise and low-income families struggle to afford groceries. Moreover, the administration’s own budget estimates 7.2 million participants in 2027. Since this is a 2027 bill, funding should be based on that estimate rather than participation as of three months ago. Additional information on how House Republicans are underfunding WIC can be found here. 

A summary of the bill is here. A fact sheet of the bill is here. 

The text of the bill is here and the report is here. Information on Community Project Funding in the bill is here.

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