Sen. Michael Bennet holds virtual roundtable for 'Republican Dangers to SNAP'
On Thursday, Senator Michael Bennet held a virtual roundtable to discuss the quote 'Republican Dangers to SNAP.'
Bennet states, 'I hope for the smaller cut; it would be better, you know, if we had to take one and not the other.'
Communities around Colorado are on their toes regarding the outcome of possible SNAP benefit cuts.
The virtual roundtable included community members around the Centennial State alongside Senator Bennet.
'As I said earlier, [SNAP] is going to be on the receiving end of this unfunded mandate,' Bennet said.
Bennet says the president passed the bill, which will need 51 Senate votes to pass in the Senate before being finalized.
'I don't know what the choices that he's going to be able to assemble to get that majority vote are, but I will keep everybody on this call informed as I begin to hear what's going on,' Bennet said.
WesternSlopeNow reached out to the Mesa County Department of Human Services, and the Economic Assistance Director, Melissa Schierland, sent a statement saying, 'This is pending federal legislation, and no changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have been finalized. We are closely monitoring the situation. If the program changes, we will communicate directly with our clients to ensure they receive clear guidance and support. Our priority remains helping families meet their basic needs and access the resources they rely on.'
State Senator Janice Rich of District 7 states, 'I think that it has been a successful program, and I guess I would hate to see it be cut, you know, a lot, because over the years, it has lifted over 70,000 people out of the poverty line.'
State Senator Rich says it's been reported that 9.9% of people use the SNAP program in the state.
Meanwhile, WesternSlopeNow reached out to the Colorado Department of Human Services about how these cuts could affect the rest of the state.
A representative sent us a statement saying in part, 'As of March 2025, approximately 334,000 Colorado households and 617,000 people receive monthly benefits. In 2024, almost one million individual Coloradans received SNAP, half of whom were children, 10% of whom were older Americans, and 15% of whom were Americans with disabilities. Minimizing food insecurity has positive impacts, including increased physical and mental health.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
29 minutes ago
- Politico
Van Hollen blocks FBI funding bill from floor debate over Trump headquarters dispute
The simmering dispute over the FBI's future headquarters derailed Senate efforts Thursday night to launch floor debate on the legislation that funds the agency, as well as the departments of Commerce and Justice, NASA and science programs. Sen. Chris Van Hollen objected Thursday night to including the bill in a larger package of funding measures. The Maryland Democrat demanded that the Senate agree to adopt language that would require the FBI to meet a specific security threshold for its headquarters, as the Trump administration keeps the agency in downtown Washington instead of relocating it to the suburban Maryland campus previously selected after a yearslong competition. But Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), who chairs the funding panel that handles the bill, shot down that request on the Senate floor Thursday night, after the dispute over the FBI headquarters already snagged committee action on the bill. Tearing up as he spoke on the floor, Moran said he knows 'no path forward' that would allow Van Hollen's amendment. 'Our appropriations process is fragile,' he said. If Van Hollen, who serves as the ranking member on the Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee, hadn't objected, his amendment would have been teed up for a vote. But Van Hollen didn't want to take the risk that the language would not have been adopted. 'That is a simple request that I would have thought all of us could stand behind,' Van Hollen said, 'making sure that the new headquarters of the men and women of the FBI meets the security requirements that we and they have set out.' Senate appropriators already killed another amendment Van Hollen proposed in committee, which would have barred the Trump administration from dipping into a $1.4 billion construction account for anything besides relocating the FBI to the previously selected site. After the proposal was initially adopted, the committee later voted to strike the language because so many Republicans were threatening to tank the underlying bill if it rebuked Trump on the headquarters decision. 'We did it because the president of the United States was going to throw a fit if that provision stayed on, that's why people reversed the position,' Van Hollen said on the Senate floor Thursday night. 'And we shouldn't make our decisions out of fear about what somebody in the White House is going to do, because that distorts the entire process here in the United States Senate.' Moran's Thursday evening request was to tie together four bills to fund the government for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Those bills would collectively fund the departments of Veterans Affairs and Agriculture, as well as military construction projects, the operations of Congress and the FDA. The Kansas Republican touted that those four measures had made it through the full Senate Appropriations Committee with bipartisan support and 'in some instances, unanimously.'
CNN
29 minutes ago
- CNN
GOP lawmaker faces raucous crowd in Wisconsin, critical questions over tariffs and immigration policy
Republican Rep. Bryan Steil faced a rowdy crowd at a town hall-style event in Wisconsin on Thursday, with attendees angrily confronting him over a wide range of topics, including tariffs, President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful Bill,' the war in Gaza and immigration policy. Audience members frequently interrupted Steil as he spoke, often drowning him out with boos and yelling, though there were also moments where the congressman's remarks were met with applause. The event – which the congressman's office described as a 'listening session,' comes as House members have returned to their districts for a weekslong district work period for the month of August. It featured a number of critical questions from the audience over the treatment of immigrants under the Trump administration. At one point, an audience member started chanting, 'We are all immigrants,' as the congressman discussed border security. 'It's not politics, it's morality,' one audience member told Steil, saying, 'I care about people, and what I see happening to our immigrant population embarrasses me, and you have not raised a voice to complain about it. Where do I see your leadership? I see no leadership, I see following Trump 100% of the time.' A different attendee told the congressman, 'I am so disappointed. I am so disappointed in how you represent us as the citizens of Walworth County. Southeast Wisconsin has not been represented by you. President Trump seems to run Southeast Wisconsin through you.' Another audience member said that his 'main concern' is tariffs. 'I was under the impression that Congress was responsible for issuing tariffs,' he said. 'I really feel that this is a terrible tax that's going to be placed on the citizens of the United States.' The congressman began to respond, by saying, 'This really at its core needs to be an opportunity to make sure that other countries are treating the United States fairly,' a remark that was met with booing. 'What we need to do is work with our allies, put trade agreements in place,' he said as he was repeatedly interrupted by yelling from the crowd. 'I think part of this is what gives Trump the authority to put in place the tariffs. The authority that he's operating under is, as it relates to the imbalance of trade,' Steil said. 'There's a court case that's going on right now where there'll be more clarity provided on this, but that's the authority that he's operating under.' The event's moderator had to interject on multiple occasions in an effort to get the crowd to quiet down. At one point, the moderator interrupted a yelling outburst by jokingly asking if the crowd would'rather the congressman go to lunch and you get to shout for the next 45 minutes?' and called out a specific audience member as 'very obnoxious and very disrespectful.' At one point, the congressman said, 'The civil discourse that is a cornerstone of our democracy is challenged right now.' Not long after, he said, 'I don't support anybody denigrating anyone else. People have a right of free speech. But a lot of our discourse, writ large, is really challenged. It's challenged on all sides. So I think we have a real opportunity to improve our discourse a little bit. I'd say the overwhelming majority of people here want to learn and understand my perspective, want to hear the questions, and then there's a small group of people that are challenging and are booing and yelling at each other. The same occurs in Washington. I share the frustration.' On Trump's sweeping tax and spending law known as the 'big, beautiful bill,' one person asked what is being done to protect individuals who are not wealthy, raising concerns that tax breaks under the legislation will only accrue to higher-earners. The congressman responded, 'In part, I would disagree with the way you framed it. As I look at the provisions of the bill, and what was in large part done, was keeping the 2017 tax reforms in place, that's the bulk of the bill,' but was soon interrupted by shouting from the crowd. He added, 'It builds onto that additional tax reforms for hard-working families.' Towards the end of the event, a man jumped up from his seat to question Steil on the war in Gaza. 'Two million people in Gaza are starving – what do you have to say about that?' the man shouted, then stood up and waved his arms in the air. A police officer approached the man, who then sat back down. The officer appeared to say something to the man and then walked away. Shortly after the outburst, a different audience member pressed the congressman to answer the earlier question. 'To me, the easy answer to address this crisis is for Hamas to surrender and release the hostages. That ends the war tomorrow,' Steil said. 'Israel was unfairly, unjustly attacked, their civilians were killed and kidnapped by Hamas terrorists.' Steil said, 'Israel has a right to defend itself,' but paused amid shouting from the crowd. Soon after, amid continued disruptions from the audience, the moderator moved to conclude the event, saying 'We're gonna close it off here because there's no point in continuing.' Separately, Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat, told a crowd at a different event Thursday night he knew it was 'a little douchey' to hold a town hall in the Wisconsin congressional district – and hometown – of neighboring Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden. But Van Orden is 'missing in action,' refusing to hold town halls of his own, and Democrats need to push back harder against the GOP's massive tax and domestic policy bill, Pocan said. 'I think doing, bluntly, town halls in Republican districts where they refuse to do them is one of the best things we can do,' Pocan said. He called himself an 'early adopter' of the tactic and said other progressive lawmakers are following suit. 'I think this is what we need to do. I mean, is this in your face. Is this a little douchey? Yes,' he said. 'But you know what? Taking away your health care and taking away your education funding and adding $4 trillion to the national debt so that the richest people are getting a tax cut is enough that we need to push back.' Pocan told CNN after the town hall that he'd come to Prairie du Chien to goad Van Orden into publicly defending the GOP bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4. 'Come on down the road, Derrick,' he said. 'If you really think this bill's as good as you've been saying it is, not in front of people, let's have an actual debate. Let's talk about the various parts of it. The fact he won't doesn't pass the Wisconsin smell test.' Pocan's hour-long town hall, in front of an audience of about 50 people in the town of about 5,000 was a friendly one with none of the fiery exchanges that other town halls across the nation have featured. Pocan was asked questions largely from the left, about ways Democrats can be more aggressive in taking on Trump. He was also asked about immigration policies, the sustainability of Social Security and Medicare, and about whether he fears Trump will declare martial law and cancel upcoming elections. He focused most of his comments on railing against Trump's so-called 'big, beautiful bill' — but peppered the entire hour with jabs at Van Orden for failing to host town halls. Van Orden's office did not respond to CNN's request for comment on Pocan's town hall. CNN's Eric Bradner contributed to this report.
Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
Hillary pinned Trump as Russian agent to distract from email scandal, says Sen. Lindsey Graham
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., assesses newly declassified intelligence in the Trump-Russia 'hoax' investigation on 'Hannity.'
