Congress

A Republican Suggests Cutting Food Stamps To Fund The Border 'Wall'

Rep. Steve King says Congress should allocate $5 billion to President Donald Trump's proposed border "wall." But will Democrats let that happen?

A Republican Suggests Cutting Food Stamps To Fund The Border 'Wall'
Getty Images
Article by Ryan Biek
SMS
July 13, 2017

How much money, if any, will Congress give to the Trump administration's so-called border wall?

The House appropriations committee released a bill Tuesday requesting $1.6 billion for the proposed wall's construction.

But Republican Rep. Steve King is arguing the funding should be bumped up even more.

On Wednesday, King proposed adding an additional $5 billion for the project.

He suggested Congress could get that funding by taking it away from Planned Parenthood and the SNAP food stamp program.

King told CNN: "We've seen this go from 19 million people now on the SNAP program up to 47 million people on the SNAP program. ... I'm sure that all of them didn't need it."

We should note the increase from 19 million to 47 million people was over decades. When former President Barack Obama took office, 32 million people received SNAP benefits.

Democrats are unlikely to go for $1.6 billion — let alone $5 billion. The party has taken a hard-line stance that it won't support funding for President Donald Trump's wall project.

A high-ranking Democratic representative argued the barrier "wasn't sound policy when President Trump first proposed it, and House Republicans will make this campaign promise even worse by risking a government shutdown to fund it."

Trump 'Absolutely' Still Wants Mexico To Pay For Border 'Wall'

Trump 'Absolutely' Still Wants Mexico To Pay For Border 'Wall'

While sitting next to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he still wants Mexico to pay for the project.

LEARN MORE

The proposal likely wouldn't have much trouble passing through the House, but Bloomberg notes eight Democratic votes are needed to pass the Senate.

Still, consolations with Senate Democrats might not work in the long-run, either.

In an interview with Breitbart, Republican Rep. Mark Meadows said he believes the president won't sign off on a spending bill unless money for the border wall proposal is included.