450,000 New Mexican Snap Participants at Risk of Cuts

With the “Big Beautiful Bill”Up for debate within the US Senate and at risk of not becoming law the rhetoric intensifies. The Republican Party is spinning that the bill cuts taxes on tips, overtime pay with additional funding to the military to fight fentanyl.

The Democrats spin that the bill cuts programs that are the safety net to the most at risk members of society. The proposal would cut spending in social security, veterans benefits, Snap benefits and others programs for the poor and at risk populations.

In New Mexico, Senator Ben Ray Lujan  took the issue of SNAP cuts to the public. “For the past 50 years, we have maintained a promise to the American people," Sen. Ben Ray Lujan said.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the program known as SNAP.. Senator Lujan’s focus on Food and Nutrition cuts highlights a republican proposal which he says would slash SNAP benefits by $300 billion

These are people that we go to church with," Lujan told the press this week. "They're our friends. They're our neighbors. They might be your children's classmates. They might be your children's teammates."

Since its creation, SNAP has assisted more than 42 million Americans. In New Mexico, The Health Care Authority says more than 450,000 people rely on the program; more than 20 percent of the population.

The Republican Party of New Mexico responded to KOAT request saying these efforts from Democrats are "nothing more than political theater designed to defend a broken welfare system that fails the very people it claims to serve."

The party argues that reform like this needs to happen in order to end the exploitation of these resources.

RPNM Chairwoman Amy Barela also said, "The people of New Mexico want opportunity, not dependency. RPNM stands proudly behind reforms that protect the truly vulnerable while ending the exploitation of our system by non-citizens and radical agendas."

The Senate faces a July 4 deadline to pass its own version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, leaving little time for compromise or significant changes.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the bill would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over a decade.

Elon Musk has challenged the bill adding pressure to Republican Senators. He  came out swinging against President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” on Tuesday, slamming the reconciliation package as a “disgusting abomination” in a massive break from the president just days after stepping away from his role in the administration.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

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