Chad Bolt

1 Apr

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump: "The US can't take of daycare. That has to be up to a state. We're fighting wars. Medicaid, Medicare -- they can do it on a state basis. We have to take care of one thing: military protection. But all these little scams that have taken place, you have to let states take care of them."

Chad Bolt reposted

Bobby Kogan

@bbkogan.bsky.social

The Iran War has likely cost $25 billion by now. What could $25 billion fund domestically instead?

firstfocus.orgWill Congress attack hungry children again, this time to pay for one hour of war in Iran?Republicans in the House and Senate are seriously considering a second budget reconciliation bill. Though hundreds of billions more dollars dedicated to

Congressional Republicans appear ready to put SNAP benefits even MORE at risk for kids and their families for the next 10 years, in order to pay for ONE HOUR of war in Iran. I wish I were making this up. firstfocus.org/update/will-... 1/7

The worst part: the nonpartisan scorekeepers at CBO tell us this will pay for the equivalent of, according to figures provided by Pentagon officials, ONE HOUR OF WAR IN IRAN. A 10 year policy change making it harder for families to put food on the table... for 1 hour of war. 6/7

They've shown us their cards. I just did the math. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/w... www.politico.com/f/?id=000001... 7/7

Rs are going after the SNAP "tolerance threshold," a policy used in quality control measurement. Eliminating it will increase states' new costs and thereby the fiscal pressures they're already under to cut benefits, restrict eligibility, or outright leave the program. 4/7

Congress continues to do nothing to permanently tackle skimming - which is *actual crime* perpetrated *against* SNAP beneficiaries where thieves target SNAP EBT cards and steal families' benefits. But sure, eliminate the tolerance threshold. frac.org/wp-content/u... 5/7

frac.orgfrac.org

Looks like Republicans will move another reconciliation bill, this time not to give billionaires another round of huge tax cuts, but to pay for ICE and the Iran war. Included in the bill will likely be a set of measures that will further cut benefit programs, including SNAP. 2/7

Even though Trump's own USDA reported before passage of HR 1 that payment accuracy was at a "historic high," and despite already slashing $187B from SNAP last year - cuts that the R and D governors of 50 states asked Congress to delay - the program is under attack again. 3/7

Chad Bolt reposted

Katie Bergh

@katiebergh.bsky.social

25 Mar

New USDA data show 2.5 million fewer people participated in SNAP in December compared to July, when the Republican megabill (H.R. 1) enacted the deepest SNAP cuts in history. This is only the beginning — even more people will lose SNAP as the full brunt of these cuts take effect.

firstfocus.orgChildren Need Congress to Reverse the SNAP Cost Shift to StatesNew Bill Would Undo Cuts Designed to Let Kids to Go Hungry Roughly 4-in-10 participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are

16 million kids rely on SNAP for more than just nutrition: it improves their health, educational outcomes, and stability at home. The shutdown showed us what happens when kids have to go without it, and why Congress has to avert deep cuts taking effect soon. firstfocus.org/update/child... 1/

Without SNAP, we know kids are hungrier and have a harder time concentrating in school. Their test scores suffer. They're likelier to develop chronic health conditions, and they're even likelier to see neglect or abuse at home. It doesn't have to be this way! 6/

campaignforchildren.orgHomepage2024 Champions for Children Access the Scorecard About us First Focus Campaign for Children is a bipartisan advocacy organization working to make children

There’s still time to repeal these cuts. That's what the Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act, introed today, would do. Head to CampaignForChildren.org to tell your Member of Congress to support it, and the 16 million kids who rely on SNAP. 7/7

Why does that matter? It’s a preview of what’s to come next year, thanks to the "One Big Beautiful Bill." That’s when the largest cuts to SNAP in history – $200 billion over 10 years – start to take effect and states will be left to pick up the tab. 4/

When states are hit with this, we’ll likely see outcomes similar to what happened during the shutdown: families faced w impossible choices to keep food on tables, food banks stretched beyond limits, state budgets that can’t cover all the critical programs kids need to thrive. 5/

While SNAP benefits were interrupted during the shutdown, the whole system was in chaos. Families had to choose: food or rent? Food or diapers? Food or gas? Food banks tried to step up but they were stretched to the brim – so much so that many had to turn families away. 2/

States found out what it would be like if they had to run SNAP without the support they’re used to from the federal govt. It didn’t go well. They had to move money from other critical programs to fill huge gaps left by the federal govt’s failure to cover Nov. SNAP payments. 3/

washingtonpost.comSocial Security scraps plan to limit disability benefits after uproarThe policy would have fundamentally altered who qualifies for the two federal disability programs by eliminating or limiting a person’s age as a factor to consider.

Huge news here. This plan went so far that it could have affected tens of thousands of children, on top of more than a million older workers and their retirement security and the health care they need. Glad to see SSA changing course. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Chad Bolt reposted

Kathleen Romig

@kathleenromig.bsky.social

19 Nov 2025

The Trump Administration is abandoning plans for the biggest-ever cut to Social Security Disability Insurance, which would have hit older workers hardest. The rule would have devastated up to 1.5 million workers' financial stability, retirement security & access to health care. wapo.st/4o48J24

wapo.stSocial Security scraps plan to limit disability benefits after uproarThe policy would have fundamentally altered who qualifies for the two federal disability programs by eliminating or limiting a person’s age as a factor to consider.

firstfocus.orgRecent Actions by the Trump Administration Target Children with DisabilitiesProposed rules, reductions in force, threaten roughly 100,000 children who rely on Supplemental Security Income, plus others in need of support and

The Trump Admin's shameful attacks on kids with disabilities are happening on every front: legislation (OBBB), regs, and RIFs. The Social Security Administration's new proposed rule to limit SSI eligibility is yet another example. 1/ firstfocus.org/update/recen...

And of course, all children remain in the Administration's crosshairs. Case in point: their effort this month to go all the way to the Supreme Court to deprive 16 million kids of food to withhold SNAP funding they’d earlier been compelled to release during the government shutdown. 7/

Children with disabilities have been left behind for far too long by existing federal policy, and these attacks further hurt them at a time when policymakers should be dedicating more support to their development. 8/

In addition to these SSI changes, the Trump Admin's RIFs also gutted the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which is responsible for IDEA, the key law protecting the rights of students w disabilities - leaving the office less able to enforce protections for kid in schools. 5/

This comes on the heels of OBBB, which cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and CHIP. Together they cover about 2-in-5 children with special health care needs. Schools rely on Medicaid to cover IDEA-mandated supports, which could force elimination of other programs when Medicaid funding is gone. 6/

SSA proposes to make the eligibility rules even MORE complicated and complex -- forcing beneficiaries to navigate more red tape and an agency that is already stretched thin to unnecessarily devote more time and bandwidth to administer the program that could be committed to higher priority needs. 3/

This change in regulatory policy is a step backward. Lawmakers are building bipartisan support to update SSI's outdated eligibility rules for the first time in 40 yrs, so the rules stop punishing people for saving for emergencies and working part time if they're able. That's the right direction. 4/

SSI is a lifeline for children with disabilities whose families have limited income and resources, helping cover the extra costs like medical care, therapies, adaptive equipment, and transportation. This new rule could hurt as many as 100,000 of those kids, by making it harder to qualify. 2/

8 Nov 2025

After being ordered by a lower court to use funds Congress has already made available to pay Nov SNAP benefits, the Trump Admin is now going all the way to the Supreme Court to deprive 16 million kids of food. Unhinged levels of cruelty.

booker.senate.govbooker.senate.gov

23 Oct 2025

SNAP helps keep 16 million kids from going hungry. USDA has options to keep SNAP funded through November while the government is still shut down, but so far it is deliberately not using them. www.booker.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

Chad Bolt reposted

Kathleen Romig

@kathleenromig.bsky.social

23 Oct 2025

With inflation on everyone’s minds, it’s a good time to recognize one of Social Security’s most valuable features: Its annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), which will be announced tomorrow. 🧵

Chad Bolt reposted

Kathleen Romig

@kathleenromig.bsky.social

16 Oct 2025

Despite repeatedly promising not to cut Social Security, the Trump Admin is reportedly preparing a proposed rule that could reduce the share of applicants who qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance by up to 20%--which would be the largest cut ever. 🧵 www.cbpp.org/blog/trump-a...

cbpp.orgTrump Administration Plans Deep Cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance, Particularly for Older WorkersDespite repeatedly promising not to cut Social Security, the Trump Administration is reportedly preparing a proposed rule that could reduce the share of applicants who qualify for Social Security...

bit.lyThe IRS Finally Has an Answer to TurboTaxAgainst all odds, the government has created an actually good piece of technology.

16 Apr 2025

Biden IRS made it free and simple for you to file your taxes directly. The Trump Admin is making you go back to TurboTax. Shameful.

The Atlantic@theatlantic.com

Direct File, the IRS's own tax program, is borderline miraculous, @saahildesai.bsky.social wrote last year. But now its future is in doubt.

politico.comEx-GOP lawmaker: Medicaid cuts politically riskyFormer GOP Rep. Larry Bucshon, who retired from Congress in January, is cautioning his Republican colleagues that cutting Medicaid could be politically perilous.

18 Mar 2025

Yeah, turns out voters across the political spectrum don't like it when you take away their health care to pay for billionaire tax cuts. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

washingtonpost.comSocial Security, facing pressure from DOGE, weighs big cuts to phone serviceAgency considers ending phone program that helps with claims processing and is used by millions of elderly and disabled Americans.

12 Mar 2025

They are standing between seniors and the Social Security benefits they've earned, they're doing it right out in the open, and it is to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Keep saying it. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Chad Bolt reposted

Tax War Room

@taxwarroom.bsky.social

6 Mar 2025

They said they wouldn’t touch Medicaid. They’re lying.

familiesoverbillionaires.orgRepublicans Are Cutting Your Social Security to Pay for More Billionaire Tax Cuts - Families Over BillionairesRepublicans Are Cutting Your Social Security to Pay for More Billionaire Tax Cuts By Chad Bolt and Alex Lawson House Republicans are hard at work on their number one priority: deliver more tax cuts fo...

10 Mar 2025

Cuts to Social Security are not a far-off possibility in the future, they’re happening *right now* — in the form of closed field offices and terrible service. This paves the way for further cuts later. Why? To pay for more tax cuts for billionaires. www.familiesoverbillionaires.org/republicans-...

Chad Bolt reposted

Tax War Room

@taxwarroom.bsky.social

10 Mar 2025

READ: The GOP budget plan Republicans put in motion would slash Medicaid and Medicare -- but they aren't stopping there.

t.cohttps://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/06/doge-is-driving-social-security-cuts-will-make-mistakes-acting-head-says-privately/

6 Mar 2025

“Morale is in the toilet,” the employee said. “We all know what DOGE wants to do, which is just break us, so they can privatize us.” This employee nails it: the Republican effort to slash Social Security to pay for billionaire tax cuts is well underway. t.co/h6JIXIiNCm

5 Feb 2025

House Republicans right now, waiting for Mike Johnson and Lindsey Graham to work it out on the remix

2 Feb 2025

Trump and Republicans rn

2 Feb 2025

The blunt approach to revenue that Trump is taking with these tariffs -- to pay for tax cuts for billionaires! -- is one that the federal government abandoned more than 100 years ago precisely because it was so unfair to the average American and their family.

piie.comWhy Trump's tariff proposals would harm working AmericansAt the beginning of its history, the United States relied on tariffs—taxes on imported goods—as its major source of government revenue. That changed starting in the early 20th century, with the enactment of the federal income tax and the advent of a new consensus recognizing tariffs as regressive, burdening the working class while leaving untaxed much of the income accruing to the wealthy. At present, less than 2 percent of government revenue in high-income countries comes from import taxes.

2 Feb 2025

Unlike the individual tax code, which uses progressive tax rates calibrated by income, import taxes—paid by U.S. companies, which could pass the costs onto consumers—work like flat sales taxes and are super regressive. www.piie.com/publications...

Chad Bolt reposted

Brendan Duke

@brendanvduke.bsky.social

americanprogress.org4 Ways House Republicans’ Emerging Tax Package Would Put Billionaires Over FamiliesThe emerging House Republican tax package would raise working- and middle-class families’ costs to shower enormous tax giveaways on the wealthiest Americans.

New collaboration from @chadderr.bsky.social and I (no longer just collaborating in the Senate!) laying out the tradeoffs in the emerging House GOP tax bill. For example--they are using cuts to Medicaid to help finance tax cuts to the top 2 percent of Americans.

Chad Bolt@chadderr.bsky.social

Trump and Republicans promised to lower costs for the American people, but their tax bill is poised to do just the opposite - all so they can give more tax cuts to billionaires. @brendanvduke.bsky.social and I are out with a new column today, explaining: www.americanprogress.org/article/4-wa... 1/6

Finally, the emerging tax bill is shaping up to be a betrayal of Trump's promises. The 2017 tax law drove record levels of stock buybacks - which enrich already wealthy shareholders - but it mostly did not create new jobs or raise wages. This next round is more of the same. 5/6

The only people asking for more tax cuts for billionaires... are billionaires. Republicans and Democrats alike should reject these shameless tax giveaways and show us whose side they're *really* on by building a tax code that puts workers first and supports kids and families. 6/6

How are they paying for this? It's the usual plans to slash SNAP and Medicaid - which 1 in 5 Americans rely on for health insurance - but also coming up with more creative ideas like taxing kids' college scholarships and getting rid of the student loan interest deduction. 3/6

cbo.govThe Budget and Economic Outlook: 2018 to 2028In CBO’s projections, the economy grows relatively quickly this year and next and then more slowly in the following several years. The federal budget deficit rises substantially, boosting federal debt...

Tax cuts are not free and they don't pay for themselves. They'll explode the deficit - which leads to higher interest rates. A practical result? It will make it less affordable to buy a home, and as CBO projects, worsen our nation's housing shortage: www.cbo.gov/publication/... 4/6

Once again (this might sound familiar!) the benefits of the GOP tax bill will overwhelmingly go to the wealthiest households. That means Musk, Zuckerberg, etc get both a front row seat at the White House and a front row seat for the largest tax giveaways. 2/6