{"id":2778,"date":"2026-06-04T23:37:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T23:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2778"},"modified":"2026-06-04T23:37:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T23:37:48","slug":"house-bill-rolls-back-food-aid-for-pregnant-women-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2778","title":{"rendered":"House bill rolls back food aid for pregnant women, children"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland) speaks to reporters at the Capitol in March. (Samuel Corum\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

As grocery prices continue to rise nationally, the House on Thursday passed an appropriations bill that would cut funding for a program that helps pregnant women and children purchase healthy foods.<\/p>

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By a vote of 213-210, the House passed an appropriations measure <\/b>to fund the Agriculture Department among other agencies. The bill, which the Senate has yet to consider, aims to cut about 1.5 percent from overall federal agriculture spending in fiscal 2027, according to Republicans. Four House Democrats voted with Republicans to pass the measure, while five Republicans voted against it.<\/p>\n

Under the legislation, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children \u2014 more commonly known as WIC \u2014 would lose $141 million in funding for fruit and vegetable benefits for the nearly 5.4 million children and pregnant and postpartum women enrolled, according to an estimate from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the National WIC Association, an advocacy group for public health nutrition providers, estimated that the bill would reduce monthly fruit and vegetable benefits from $52 to $13 for breastfeeding mothers and from $26 to $10 for young children.<\/p>\n

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, said on the House floor that despite cuts, the $8 billion in remaining funding is sufficient to meet the needs of the program. Harris argued that Agriculture Department data \u201cclearly shows\u201d that WIC participation has been declining during the current fiscal year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith lowered participation estimates and increased carryover funding, $8 billion will fully fund the program,\u201d Harris said. \u201cLet me say it one more time \u2026 WIC is fully funded. No woman or their children will lose or be denied coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

But advocates and experts argued <\/b>that the USDA data Harris cited reflects only the first quarter of the fiscal year, which includes the fall government shutdown that led to a decrease in program enrollment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a shutdown during that period, and so there was widespread confusion about which programs were open, what benefits were available, so that may be playing a big role in the lower participation early in this fiscal year,\u201d said Zo\u00eb Neuberger, a fellow on nutrition assistance programs at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.<\/p>\n

Neuberger also noted that because food prices have risen <\/b>in the first half of this year, participation in WIC is also expected to rise.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticipation goes up because families have a harder time affording the groceries that they need, and so eligible families that might not have been participating in WIC before might turn to WIC for help,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Alison Hard, director of policy at the National WIC Association, said WIC participation rates began increasing since fiscal 2022 and that the program has experienced \u201cpretty consistent increases in participation over the last few fiscal years.\u201d<\/p>

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Hard credited part of the increase to USDA\u2019s push to make WIC services available virtually, so potential beneficiaries could access the program through telehealth.<\/p>\n

Neuberger said the virtual option was a \u201ctremendously beneficial modernization,\u201d especially important for working parents and parents in rural areas. But she noted that the House bill does not make virtual service options permanent. If funding for these services lapses, Neuberger said, some families may not enroll in the program.<\/p>\n

Democrats on the House floor argued that vulnerable Americans \u2014 particularly children \u2014 will lose access to fresh foods even as costs for the average consumer <\/b>rise in part because of President Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs<\/a> and the war in Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans promised prices would come down on day one,\u201d Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts) said. \u201cWell, here a year-and-a-half in and everything\u2019s up. Groceries are up. Energy costs are up. Inflation is up. Their answer to pregnant women paying high grocery costs is to cut WIC by $200 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGovern argued that WIC is one of the most \u201ceffective pro-family programs\u201d offered by the U.S. government, helping pregnant women stay healthy and keeping milk, eggs, and vegetables accessible for families with young children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would you eliminate that at a time when fruits and veggies are getting more expensive?\u201d McGovern said.<\/p>\n

When the bill was first introduced in April, members of the Trump administration in the party\u2019s Make America Healthy Again arm decried the shaving off of funds from WIC. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was \u201cnot happy\u201d with the cuts during an April hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee.<\/p>\n

House Republicans, however, insisted ahead of the bill\u2019s passing that WIC would remain funded at appropriate levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s completely false to believe that there will be people kicked off of the program. Funding this at the level necessary to meet the need is exactly what we\u2019re doing in this bill,\u201d Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Indiana) said Wednesday.<\/p>

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Millions of WIC recipients would have less money for fruits and vegetables under the legislation, which funds the Agriculture Department and other agencies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nHouse bill rolls back food aid for pregnant women, children - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2778\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"House bill rolls back food aid for pregnant women, children - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Millions of WIC recipients would have less money for fruits and vegetables under the legislation, which funds the Agriculture Department and other agencies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2778\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-04T23:37:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/cebb52828482791daa9fef4ba61357f6-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"House bill rolls back food aid for pregnant women, children\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T23:37:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778\"},\"wordCount\":863,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dedbbff4fa4b80835334654aa7903d58-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778\",\"name\":\"House bill rolls back food aid for pregnant women, children - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dedbbff4fa4b80835334654aa7903d58-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T23:37:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2778#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dedbbff4fa4b80835334654aa7903d58-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dedbbff4fa4b80835334654aa7903d58-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 27: Chair of the Freedom Caucus U.S. Rep. 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