Sweeping changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — Trump's major reconciliation legislation signed into law in July 2025 — have begun taking effect across the United States in 2026, NPR reported on March 2. The law expanded federal SNAP work requirements, which previously applied to able-bodied adults without dependents between ages 18 and 54, to cover adults up to age 64. Under the new requirements, affected individuals must demonstrate 80 hours per month of work, job training, community service, or qualifying education to remain eligible for food assistance. The law also extended work requirements to groups previously exempt, including veterans, former foster youth, people experiencing homelessness, and parents with children older than 14. NPR reported that changes are "kicking in" as states begin implementing the new verification systems.

Fox Business reported the legislation's provisions favorably, noting that the House Republican authors framed the work requirements as "common-sense" measures to reduce government waste, encourage self-sufficiency, and ensure that food assistance is directed toward those truly unable to work. Fox Business confirmed the expansion of the age threshold from 54 to 64. The USDA, which administers SNAP, announced a "major overhaul" of the program's administration to implement the new requirements and is providing guidance to the 51 state and territory agencies responsible for enrollment.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the SNAP provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill will reduce federal SNAP spending by approximately billion over ten years — roughly a 20 percent cut — and that 2.4 million people will lose SNAP benefits in a typical month once changes are fully implemented. The CBO analysis found that a disproportionate share of those losing benefits will be elderly adults between 55 and 64, people with informal caregiving responsibilities, and workers in seasonal or intermittent jobs that do not easily generate monthly documentation of 80 work hours. PBS NewsHour covered the human stakes of the changes in a segment on "who will be affected by Trump administration's Medicaid and SNAP work requirements," featuring individuals navigating the new verification process.

The law also introduced a structural change that affects all 40 million current SNAP recipients: states are now required to pay between 5 and 15 percent of food benefit costs, depending on their SNAP error rate — a provision that marks a historic departure from the prior structure in which the federal government covered 100 percent of monthly food benefits. The Pew Charitable Trusts reported in January that the shift is prompting states to evaluate their SNAP administration systems and, in some cases, consider restricting enrollment to lower their exposure to the new cost-sharing formula. Advocacy groups cited by NPR warned the new state-cost-sharing requirement will create powerful incentives for states to reduce enrollment even among eligible households.