'100 percent wrong': How Johnson stirs House fight over 'country’s largest anti-Hunger program'

Ahead of President Joe Biden's goal to "win back rural voters" in 2024, according to a Thursday Politico report, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), "is a proponent of more hardline GOP efforts to overhaul the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the country's largest anti-hunger program that serves 41 million low-income Americans," farmers and rural Americans.

Per Politico, Johnson has referred to SNAP, formerly called "food stamps," as "our nation's most broken and bloated welfare program."

As a result, "Many Democrats are alarmed that Johnson's rise to speaker will embolden GOP hardliners who are eager to target nutrition spending in the farm bill," the report notes.

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"I can't imagine the Mike Johnson that we know would pass up the opportunity to secure as many conservative wins as possible in this farm bill," a Republican aide told Politico. "And that means serious SNAP reforms."

The news outlet notes the new speaker "is still assembling his team," and "has yet to dive into detailed planning for the next farm bill."

Politico reports, "House Republicans are essentially guaranteed to need Democratic votes to pass the next farm bill, given the GOP's narrow majority and opposition within the House GOP over the topline spending. Even some House Republicans, like Dusty Johnson, say the task ahead is significant, given there are 'a number of hardliners who struggle to get to 'yes' on anything."

Johnson told the news outlet, "At the same time, you've got some pragmatic farm-state members who get frustrated with the political gamesmanship."

Still, "as a senior member of the conservative-leaning Republican Study Committee," Politico emphasizes, Johnson's history includes supporting "proposals to roll back food aid expansions under Biden and block states from exempting some work requirements for SNAP."

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According to the report, far-right "Republicans are pressing to include similar measures in the next farm bill. Such a move would upend the fragile bipartisan coalition needed to pass the legislation — a blow to House Republicans who represent the majority of rural and farm districts, including Johnson, as well as more centrist GOP members who will be fighting for their political lives in 2024.

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) told the news outlet the speaker is "100 percent wrong on SNAP," which he believes is "one of the most impactful tools we have to fight poverty."

The Democratic lawmaker added, "Anyone who thinks the solution is more cuts is living in an alternate reality."

Politico's full report is available at this link.