5.5 million lost food stamps in a year: what changed under the law and what to do if it happened to you

Did your EBT card come back empty this month and nobody explained why? You are not an isolated case.

More than 5.5 million people stopped receiving food stamps (SNAP) between July 2025 and July 2026. That is 13% of all recipients — one in eight — according to the most recent analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a research organization working with data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) itself. And the drop is so steep that SNAP participation has fallen to its lowest level since 2009. Seventeen years ago.

What changed

It all starts on July 4, 2025, when the budget reconciliation law took effect, cutting SNAP in several ways at once. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had estimated the law would cut about $187 billion from SNAP through 2034 — the largest cut in the program’s history. But what happened in the first year far exceeded what CBO projected: the office had forecast 2.8 million fewer recipients in an average month of 2026, and USDA reports about 4.5 million. Actual spending fell nearly double what was estimated: almost $11 billion less in fiscal year 2026.

These are the three mechanisms pushing people out of the program:

• The work requirement was expanded. It used to apply mostly to adults aged 18 to 54 without dependents. It now reaches age 65 and covers parents and caregivers of children age 14 and older. And the exemptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and youth aging out of foster care are gone.
• Fewer immigration statuses qualify. The law ended eligibility for many people with lawful immigration status. The analysts themselves warn that these requirements push many people off the program without increasing employment.
• The states, under pressure. The law shifts enormous costs to the states: starting in fiscal year 2028, they will have to pay between 5% and 15% of the cost of benefits. The urgency to cut errors and costs is already leading many states to tighten processes — more paperwork, more requirements — even without enough staff to process them, and that is pushing out people who do qualify.

One important caveat: the decline started before the law, so not all of it can be attributed to it. But in almost every state it accelerated after the law took effect, and the authors expect the trend to continue.

Where it hurts most

Arizona took the worst hit: its rolls fell nearly 51% between July 2025 and July 2026 — about 408,204 fewer people with the most recent state data. Also losing more than 20%: Florida (-665,935 people, -23%), Illinois, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma and — with more recent data — Indiana, Kansas and Texas (-709,435 people, -20%).

California lost 333,062 recipients (-6%) and Pennsylvania 239,179 (-12%). In the 28 states with available data, 1.5 million children left the program; the national estimate is around 2 million minors. Nearly half of those who left in those states were children.

What to do today, if you lost food stamps

1. Log in to your state’s SNAP portal and check your case. Many exits are not final denials: they are expired recertifications or pending documents. You can see exactly what you are missing right there.
2. If you were denied over the work requirement, gather proof and appeal. Pay stubs, volunteer hours, or training hours count. Most states give you a window to appeal; do not let it pass.
3. Find your nearest food bank. Food banks from Michigan to Pennsylvania report demand is climbing — they are the emergency network while you sort out your case.
4. If the reason was your immigration status, ask for the determination in writing. The law changed which statuses qualify, but every case is different; before assuming you no longer qualify, talk to a free legal aid organization.

One more thing to watch: authorities are cracking down on fraud. The Department of Justice announced actions against more than 40 people over schemes seeking nearly $45 million in losses to USDA programs (we covered the ICE operation against SNAP fraud here) — that does not explain the 5.5 million exits, but it does mean using someone else’s card or selling benefits can land you in federal trouble. On the legal side, this is what the IRS is proposing on refunds and credits by immigration status.

In our News section we keep following this story in English.

Official sources

• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities — “SNAP Tracker: People Are Losing Food Assistance” (text updated Oct 22, 2026, with USDA data): cbpp.org
• CBPP — “Congress Must Delay SNAP Cost Shift” (Oct 22, 2026): cbpp.org
• CBPP — “SNAP Participation Has Dropped to Its Lowest Point in 17 Years” (Oct 14, 2026): cbpp.org
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service — federal SNAP participation data cited in the analysis.