Denver — U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) joined U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader, and 41 Senate Democratic colleagues to warn the American public that the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans plan to gut Meals on Wheels, Head Start, and other essential social services programs.
“Earlier this month, Congressional Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate passed a budget that sets the stage for existential cuts to the safety net. Republican leaders claim they have no plans to eliminate essential services, but tens of billions in catastrophic cuts to these programs appeared on Republicans’ published wish list, alongside cuts to Medicaid and SNAP,” wrote Bennet, Welch, Wyden, Merkley, Schumer, and the senators.
In their open letter to the public, the senators warn that Republicans in the Senate are writing legislation to give a tax break to the wealthiest Americans by gutting essential social services. Republicans are targeting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) – two essential funding sources for social services programs which millions of children, seniors, and families in the U.S. rely on.
“We write to make our position on this legislation perfectly clear: Congress should not give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans by ripping away programs that almost 25 million Americans – close to 50% of whom are children – rely on for basic needs,” continued the senators.
Eliminating SSBG and TANF would gut programs that serve the most vulnerable Americans at a time when states and localities already face tight budget constraints. These cuts will remove access to child care and early education for close to 40,000 children, forcing working parents to choose between cutting back their hours or leaving their jobs to care for their children.
Seniors will also bear the brunt of these cuts. SSBG is a critical funding source for Meals on Wheels, a program that seniors rely on to eat what is often their only meal of the day.
“Right now, Republicans are writing the most consequential legislation contemplated in decades entirely behind closed doors. That’s because Trump and Congressional Republicans must hide the ugly truth – their legislation feeds corporate and wealthy individuals’ greed by abandoning vulnerable children, starving seniors, and cutting off families in need. You, your family, and your neighbors deserve far better,” concluded the senators.
In addition to Bennet, Welch, Wyden, Merkley, and Schumer, U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) signed the letter.
The text of the letter is available HERE and below.
An open letter to the public:
The Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans are planning to give another round of tax handouts to the ultra-wealthy and corporations that are paid for by gutting funding that supports Meals on Wheels, Head Start, and other essential programs that seniors, children, and working families rely on. While Republicans maintain that they are not cutting benefits for people, they have zeroed-in on two essential funding sources for these programs – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) – putting children, seniors, and families at risk across the country.
We write to make our position on this legislation perfectly clear: Congress should not give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans by ripping away programs that almost 25 million Americans – close to 50% of whom are children – rely on for basic needs.
Earlier this month, Congressional Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate passed a budget that sets the stage for existential cuts to the safety net. Republican leaders claim they have no plans to eliminate essential services, but tens of billions in catastrophic cuts to these programs appeared on Republicans’ published wish list, alongside cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. State and local leaders confirm that eliminating SSBG and TANF
would reduce programs that serve our most vulnerable as states and localities are already operating under tight budget constraints.
These devastating cuts will rip away access to child care and early education for close to 40,000 children, taking away programs that help set them up for successful lives. This will force working parents to walk an even tighter economic tightrope and make impossible choices about whether to cut back their hours or leave their jobs altogether to take care of their children. Moreover, these funding cuts will disproportionately impact kinship families – families in which grandparents or other family members raise children – as TANF is often their sole federal support outside of Social Security and the foster care system.
Along with children, seniors will bear the brunt of these cuts. For example, in South Carolina, the state’s adult protective services is funded entirely by SSBG, raising questions about how the state will be able to effectively identify and prevent elder abuse without these dollars. SSBG is also a critical funding source for Meals on Wheels programs across the country. If Congressional Republicans get away with eliminating SSBG, the local Meals on Wheels program in Abilene, Texas will be forced to cut services for over half of the 1,700 seniors and people with disabilities across 15 rural communities it currently feeds. It doesn’t get crueler than going after a program that seniors rely on to eat what is often their only meal of the day, and there are programs like these in every community.
Right now, Republicans are writing the most consequential legislation contemplated in decades entirely behind closed doors. That’s because Trump and Congressional Republicans must hide the ugly truth – their legislation feeds corporate and wealthy individuals’ greed by abandoning vulnerable children, starving seniors, and cutting off families in need. You, your family, and your neighbors deserve far better.
Democrats are fighting to protect your communities from Republican cuts.
Join us and keep up the fight.