Add The New York Post on Google WASHINGTON — SNAP out of it.
Freshman Rep. Brandon Gill wants to bar restaurants from accepting food stamp benefits, arguing the entitlement should only be used to purchase groceries.
A bill unveiled Thursday by Gill would end the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s (SNAP) Restaurant Meals Program (RMP), which lets beneficiaries purchase hot meals at certain eateries.
“SNAP is supposed to help struggling Americans put nutritious food on the table, not stick taxpayers with the bill for fast food,” Gill told The Post in a statement.
“More than half a billion dollars in SNAP benefits have gone to restaurants through this loophole in just two years while the Trump administration is working to get junk food out of the program.”
The Post previously reported that approximately $524 million was spent at restaurants across nine states with RMPs — New York, California, Arizona, Michigan, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Illinois, Virginia and Maryland — between June 2023 and May 2025.
Of the states enrolled, California spent the most on restaurants ($475 million), followed by Arizona ($41.4 million) and New York ($3.6 million).
Under Gill’s Ending Restaurant Purchases with SNAP Act, public and nonprofit groups would still be able to provide meals to beneficiaries, including disabled and elderly Americans eligible for home deliveries.
The RMP was established by the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 and was meant to help people who lacked cooking opportunities or adequate food storage get assistance purchasing ready-to-eat meals.
In June, Gill tangled with Gina Plata-Nino, the director of SNAP Policy and Advocacy at the Food Research and Action Center, over the use of food stamps on unhealthy products like soft drinks.
“Do the American people need Coca-Cola to survive?” he asked during the exchange, adding after Plata-Nino dodged the question: “I think most people can rationally say that you don’t need Coca-Cola to survive.”
The following month, Gill was among a group of GOP lawmakers, led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who raised concerns about SNAP spending at fast food restaurants.
The legislators urged both the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture to investigate whether RMP rules need to be tightened.
“What was originally intended as a narrow accommodation for individuals unable to store or prepare food, the program has grown and is now dominated by large national fast-food and quick-service chains,” the Republicans wrote in a letter to the heads of USDA and HHS.
