House Speaker Mike Johnson's deep-red district in Louisiana has one of the highest usage rates for food stamps in the nation, with nearly one in five households relying on the benefits, and his constituents are feeling the pain as the government shutdown threatens that lifeline.
The Washington Post spoke with several people in Johnson's district who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Aid Program (SNAP), and they aren't blaming President Donald Trump or Republican congressional leadership for a lapse in funding for the aid, which a judge ordered the administration to restore.
“Mike Johnson and Trump — I like them, I like some of the things they’re doing now," said Liz Hill, 58, who oversees 911 operations for Evangeline parish. "I think they have good ideas. But I just think the fighting that’s going on with the government shutdown is ridiculous.”
Trump so far is escaping blame among his core supporters for the shutdown or loss of SNAP benefits, even though his administration is challenging the court order to pay for them through November, but his voters say they're hurting.
“Stressful is not a strong enough word,” said Mary Little, an 80-year-old retired nurse and the widow of a Vietnam veteran.
Little was loading cornbread mix, coffee and cereal into her car outside First United Methodist Church in Bossier City when the Post spoke with her, and she expressed pride in Johnson and Trump but expressed outrage toward Washington politics in general.
“There are people up there that have never been hungry, that have never had food stamps, that have never gone to a food bank," Little said. "Your people are hungry. There’s nothing worse than that. … I personally feel vulnerable — and I have a college education, my husband was a Vietnam vet, and God knows I paid my taxes before I was retired.”
Congressional districts represented by Democrats are home to 53 percent of SNAP recipients, while 47 percent live in districts represented by Republicans, and nearly half the SNAP households in Johnson's district have a least one child, and 46 percent have at least person living with a disability.
“As elected representatives, we are duty bound to ensure that our constituents are not hurt by unnecessary, pointless Democrat infighting,” Johnson told the Post in a statement. “That’s why Republicans in Congress have supported a funding bill 15 separate times to ensure nutritional assistance is fully funded, and it’s why Republicans in the Louisiana Legislature stepped up to allocate emergency funds to ensure SNAP benefits continue uninterrupted to Louisiana families.”
The speaker pointed out that Republicans have brought the issue to a vote 15 times but said Democrats have refused to step up, while Democrats have insisted that Republicans negotiate with them to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies to prevent premiums from skyrocketing if they're allowed to expire at the end of this year.
“I have never seen an American President so desperate to force children and seniors to go hungry,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said on X. “This is as ugly and cruel as it gets.”
The restoration of funding for SNAP remains on hold while the Trump administration appeals the judge's ruling, and churches and other organizations hoping to bridge the gap lack the resources to meet everyone's needs.
“The people that Jesus told to feed the 5,000, all he asked them to do was see what they do have,” said Donnie Wilkinson, a pastor at First United Methodist Church near Shreveport. “We’re trusting that God is still in the multiplication.”
Little compared the SNAP disruption to a natural disaster like a hurricane, so she's stocking up on staples but making do with what she could get.
“I know she put me some meat in here,” Little said, looking into her bag and finding a seasoned pork roast.
“That’s a serious piece of meat for someone who lives alone," she said. "I looked at the price of turkeys, and if you don’t have $25, well you just can’t do it. [The food bank] even gave me cake mix. So between this pork and that cake, that’s what I’m going to make for Thanksgiving.”