Vice Ranking Member Brown Votes Against Farm Bill that Cements Cuts to SNAP

Image April 30, 2026 Press Release GOP-led Farm Bill locks in devastating SNAP cuts, lacks year-round E15, fails to adequately address challenges for farmers or lower costs Washington, DC – Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11), Vice Ranking Member of the House Committee on Agriculture , voted against the partisan Farm Bill (H.R. 7567) considered by the House. The Republican Farm Bill locks in the $187 billion in cuts to food assistance from Trump’s Big Ugly Law, rubberstamps Trump’s illegal and costly tariffs, and does little to help small and family farms thrive. Over 3 million people have lost food assistance nationwide since Trump’s Big Ugly Law was implemented last year. In Cuyahoga County, SNAP enrollment is now at its lowest level in six years , dropping by 11,000 people in months. Brown submitted two amendments to the bill: an amendment to delay the Big Ugly Law’s federal cost shifts and give time for states and counties to plan for how they will be able to absorb these unjust cuts without jeopardizing other important program funding, and an amendment to unfreeze USDA grants that have been illegally held up or canceled by the Trump Administration. Both amendments were blocked by the Republican-controlled Rules Committee. Brown also opposed the Republican side-deal that uncoupled the Farm Bill and provisions allowing for year-round E15. After months of delay and at a time when gas prices in Ohio are nearing $5 per gallon, Republicans again failed to include this commonsense solution. Speaking out against the legislation on the House floor, Brown argued that the current Farm Bill does not address “the crisis actually happening in farm country right now. Farm bankruptcies are up 50 percent nationally – and nearly 75 percent in the Midwest.  Input costs keep rising — driven by reckless tariffs and the reckless war in Iran.” VIDEO: Brown’s Remarks During Floor Debate Vice Ranking Member Brown’s Remarks as Delivered: Thank you, Ranking Member Craig. The Farm Bill is one of the most important pieces of legislation that Congress works on – it touches every corner of this country, every day. Let me be direct about what this bill does and does not do. It does not address the crisis actually happening in farm country right now. Farm bankruptcies are up 50 percent nationally – and nearly 75 percent in the Midwest.  Input costs keep rising — driven by reckless tariffs and the reckless war in Iran. Farmers are being squeezed from every direction, and this bill offers them next to nothing. No farm aid. No solution to rein in fertilizer or diesel prices. No protections against USDA reorganizations or funding freezes. No attempt to end the tariffs destroying export markets, or restore the trade relationships farmers depend on. And false promises again and again on year-round E15. Where is the relief? Where is the urgency? There is a five-alarm fire in farm country, and Republicans are pulling out a garden hose. Working families aren't doing better. Gas, groceries, goods — costs are rising and this bill does nothing to bring them down. Instead, this Farm Bill ratifies the largest cuts to food assistance in American history. Republicans used the Big Ugly Law to slash $187 billion from SNAP — and handed that money straight to the wealthiest Americans. In doing so, they torched the bipartisan coalition that has kept the farm bill together for generations. And now — now — they want Democrats to come in and lock in those very same cuts with a bipartisan farm bill – while they continue to threaten the SNAP program with more partisan cuts. Give me a break. Let me tell you what those SNAP cuts look like on the ground. In my district, eleven thousand people have lost food assistance. And that's before the next round of cuts kicks in. Nationally, 4 million Americans have already been kicked off SNAP entirely. Four million people. Gone. And this Farm Bill would cement those cuts and that cruelty into law. Republican and Democratic Governors alike are warning they cannot pick up the new cost share coming down the pike. That means more cuts. More hunger. More harm. We need a real Farm Bill. One negotiated in good faith. One that can actually pass the Senate. One that confronts the real factors driving crisis in farm country and the affordability crisis at the kitchen table. This partisan bill is not it. I urge my colleagues to oppose it. I yield back. ### Issues : Nutrition and Agriculture