GOP: Let's starve families even after the shutdown ends

A person shops for produce, which is covered by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, at a grocery store in Baltimore.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins sees the Republican-created crisis over federal food assistance, which will run out of funds on Saturday, as an opportunity to weaken the program at a deeper level.

"The problem is you have an extremely corrupt program,” Rollins said of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which more than 40 million people rely on to feed themselves and their families. “But up until this administration, and with President [Donald] Trump's direct focus on this and making sure every taxpayer dollar is spent appropriately, we've never really had the opportunity to dig in. So we're going to be talking a lot more about SNAP reform.” 

She added that the goal of this so-called reform would be “to take that program back to its original intent of helping those who are truly needy in our communities, but not to have a massive welfare benefit where so many people are taking advantage of it."