Ben Luján

Senate Republicans on Wednesday defeated an amendment sponsored by Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) to create a reserve fund to lower grocery costs and reverse an estimated $187 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program enacted by last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Two vulnerable Republican senators — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska) — broke with their leaders and voted in support of the Democratic amendment to the GOP budget resolution.

Luján offered a motion to waive the Budget Act with respect to his amendment to reverse last year’s cuts to the federal food assistance program.

It failed by a vote of 47-50.

“Instead of working to address the affordability crisis and help Americans across the country struggling to afford their bills, what have Republicans done? Cut $187 billion from the best tool America has to address hunger,” Luján said on the floor before the vote.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) objected to the amendment, raising a point of order against the amendment.

The amendment, even if adopted, would have modified the Senate budget resolution and would not have had the force of law.

Republicans need to pass the budget resolution to lay the procedural groundwork for a budget reconciliation package funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through 2029.

Senate Democrats have blocked funding for the agencies through the regular appropriations process.

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