In the News

WASHINGTON ― As part of a symbolic budget that would slash domestic spending, President Donald Trump this week proposed replacing some monthly food stamp benefits with a cardboard box of nonperishable goods.  

The “America’s Harvest Box,” as the Trump administration calls it, is an idea that apparently nobody outside the administration has ever heard of ― and one that the administration itself may not have vetted very carefully.

On Monday, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney likened it to a “Blue Apron-type program,” referring to the gourmet meal delivery service. But the budget documents describing the program don’t mention anything about funds for shipping food to people’s homes. The documents say it would actually be up to states to handle distribution.

During a hearing on the budget Wednesday, Rep. Suzan Delbene (D-Wash.) asked Mulvaney how much it would cost to package and distribute the boxes, whether the government would set up a database of people’s dietary restrictions and how boxes would find their way to people with unstable housing.

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