Representative Tran Leads Orange County Democratic Congressional Delegation to Sound Alarm Over Food Assistance Interruptions
Orange County, CA – U.S. Representative Derek Tran (CA-45) led the Orange County Democratic Congressional Delegation in a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins calling on the agency to use all available legal authorities, including the billions of dollars of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contingency reserve funding available, to prevent unprecedented disruptions to CalFresh, California’s SNAP.
Read the full text of the letter HERE.
Earlier this month, Secretary Rollins informed states that the SNAP program will “run out of money” for November despite several options available to USDA to ensure that California families can put food on the table next month. As a result, the Orange County Department of Social Services announced that more than 316,000 Orange County residents may not receive their benefits for November due to the ongoing government shutdown. Over $62 million in monthly food assistance to Orange County will be interrupted.
Disruptions to food assistance benefits not only make it more difficult for Orange County families to keep food on the table amid rising costs; they also place additional strain on local food banks, which serve as distribution hubs for federal food assistance programming.
"It is unconscionable that over 316,000 of our neighbors in Orange County could go hungry because Washington politicians have failed to protect this critical lifeline. The potential interruption of $62 million in monthly CalFresh benefits would devastate Orange County families struggling to put food on the table and overwhelm our food banks. Because of massive cuts already enacted by President Trump and Congressional Republicans, our food banks are already stretched too thin,” said Representative Tran. “My family relied on food assistance when I was growing up. I know what it means to wonder where your next meal is coming from. USDA must act immediately to ensure these November SNAP benefits are delivered without delay. I’m working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and our partners on the state and local level to address this crisis and ensure every Orange County family can put food on the table.”
Representative Tran is committed to ensuring that every Orange County family can afford the nutritious food they need to stay healthy. In August, Tran and his team volunteered at the Community Action Partnership of Orange County (CAP OC) food bank, where they packed nearly 300 boxes of food for low-income seniors across Orange County.
Tran met with Mark Lowry, CEO of the CAP OC food bank, who shared that 90% of subsidized meals distributed to vulnerable families come from federal programs like SNAP. Because of over $200 billion in cuts to these programs enacted in H.R. 1, he stressed, non-profits like CAP OC and private philanthropy organizations do not begin to have the resources or capacity to fill the hole created by cuts to federal safety net programs.
Representative Tran is a cosponsor of H.R. 5740, the WIC Benefits Protection Act, which would ensure that the ongoing shutdown doesn’t disrupt WIC payments for thousands in our community. He also voted against H.R. 1, Republicans’ so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill,' which drastically slashed funding for SNAP, and signed a discharge petition in the House to bring H.R. 2753, the Hands Off Medicaid and SNAP Act, to the House floor for a vote.
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Congressman Derek Tran represents California’s 45th Congressional District. Serving his first term in Congress, Congressman Tran is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and House Small Business Committee, where he is Ranking Member of the Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations Subcommittee. Congressman Tran is the son of Vietnamese refugees, a Veteran, and fought for consumers as an attorney before entering Congress.