Members of Congress receive $79 per day for meals—an annual total of $28,835 that exceeds the income threshold for a single person to qualify for SNAP benefits. Meanwhile, 41.7 million Americans receive an average of just $6.24 per day in food assistance. This investigation reveals a system where lawmakers earning $174,000 annually claim meal stipends 12.7 times larger than what they provide to hungry families, while at least 17 millionaire representatives utilize these taxpayer-funded allowances without means testing or work requirements. The data exposes an indefensible moral architecture: Congress has determined it needs $79 daily to eat while deciding Americans in poverty can survive on $6.24. When your lunch money would disqualify you from food stamps, the cruelty isn’t a flaw in the system—it is the system.
View More When Your Meal Allowance Makes You Too Rich for Food Stamps: An Open Letter to Congress