Democrat President Joe Biden’s “unlawful food stamp expansion” is causing “massive spikes in grocery prices,” a new government watchdog report has revealed.
A study published by the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) shows that a national spike in grocery prices is linked to the largest permanent increase in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in 2021.
“In 2021, the Biden administration rushed through the largest permanent increase in food stamp benefits since the program was created, hiking benefits by an average of 27 percent,” the report stated.
The Biden administration’s massive expansion of food stamp benefits is linked to at least a 15% rise in grocery prices, the study found.
Biden’s Department of Agriculture rolled out revised nutritional standards for federal food benefits in 2021.
The move expanded the program by roughly 25% from pre-pandemic levels.
Overall spending on the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) more than doubled between 2019 and 2022, according to findings from the FGA.
It went from $4.5 billion in 2019 to $11 billion in 2022, the study said.
The FGA is accusing the Biden administration of pushing through an “unlawful expansion” of the program.
In response, the watchdog is calling on Congress to repeal it and require congressional approval moving forward.
“This unlawful expansion — which bypassed Congress — will cost taxpayers $250 billion over the next decade and has heavily contributed to soaring grocery prices,” the report continued.
“Congress should repeal President Biden’s unlawful food stamp expansion and ensure this type of executive overreach cannot happen again.
“In doing so, Congress could save taxpayers more than $193 billion over the next decade.”
In 2022, SNAP spending hit “a record-high $119 billion.”
The report described the spike as “a sixfold increase over the last two decades.”
Between 2019 and 2022, the program’s spending more than doubled from $4.5 billion to $11 billion.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the food stamp expansion could cost United States taxpayers more than $1 trillion over the next decade.
Jonathan Ingram, vice president of policy and research at the FGA, told Fox News, “USDA cooked their books to hike food stamp benefits by 27% — the largest permanent increase in program history.
“And they bypassed Congress to do it.”
“Data show the Biden administration’s overreach led to massive spikes in grocery prices,” Ingram added.
“They’re feeding inflation, not stopping hunger.”
The FGA reported that, according to the World Bank, for every 12.5% increase in SNAP spending, grocery prices increase by 1%.
Between December 2019 and March 2023, margarine costs rose 59%, eggs 54%, and frozen vegetables 36%, the Labor Department reported.
“Food stamp spending hikes could account for at least two-thirds of that increase,” the study found.
“Per-capita food stamp spending grew by more than 90 percent between December 2019 and March 2023 — even after the pandemic-related emergency allotments expired.
“After accounting for emergency allotments and pandemic EBT programs, total food stamp spending had nearly tripled while those programs were in effect.
“This suggests food stamp spending increases fueled grocery price increases of more than 15 percent.”
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