ICYMI: This Week, Senator Luján In The News Standing Up For New Mexicans and Fighting Back Against Republicans’ Attacks On Nutrition Programs

Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, this week, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) has been fighting back against Congressional Republicans’ attacks on essential services and programs that New Mexicans rely on, exposing the Trump administration’s blocking of billions for Indian Country and Native communities, and introducing bipartisan legislation to protect cattle farms and ranches in New Mexico from the growing New World screwworm (NWS) outbreak.

Fighting Back Against Republicans’ Attacks on SNAP, Nutrition Programs

This week, Senator Luján, Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on Nutrition and Specialty Crops, alongside Senate colleagues, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, and nutrition advocates hosted a press call on Republicans’ efforts to gut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a critical anti-hunger program that helps more than 41.6 million Americans. 

• KOAT: Low-income households could lose food aid under proposed SNAP cuts

Senate Democrats, including New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján, are holding a conference Tuesday after the House Agriculture Committee released their provisions to a Republican backed bill that would require states to cover a portion of SNAP benefit costs, tighten eligibility requirements for the program, and block future increases to monthly benefits.

• News From the States: U.S. House Republican plan would force states to pay for a portion of SNAP benefits

One in four New Mexicans rely on SNAP, said Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M. The farmers and ranchers he represents also plan their farming season based on what grocery stores and food banks will need, and farmers already planted seeds with the idea that those vegetables will be used for school lunches and other food programs. “The way to look at this is it’s not fiscally responsible,” Luján said. “It’s taking away from the hungry across America to make billionaires and millionaires even wealthier, and it’s going to even explode the deficit.”

Exposing How the Trump Administration is Illegally Blocking Nearly $316 Billion Owed to Native Communities

This week, Senator Luján, a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, shared a new tracker revealing that the Trump administration is blocking or freezing more than $430 billion in federal funding owed to communities across the country — including nearly $316 billion for national programs that support Indian Country and Native communities. 

• Santa Fe New Mexican: Ben Ray Luján: Trump administration blocking nearly $316 billion for tribes

U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján continued to sound the alarm this week on the Trump administration’s decision to block hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds for programs that focus on health, education and other services in Native American communities. A day after questioning the impacts of potential cuts to early childhood, maternal health and other programs for Indigenous people during a meeting of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, the New Mexico Democrat on Thursday blasted the administration of Republican President Donald Trump.

• KRQE: NM Senator: Trump Administration blocking $316B slated for Native American communities

New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Luján (D) said Donald Trump’s Administration has blocked hundreds of billions of dollars for programs that support Indian Country and native communities. The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations released a tracker of the cuts made by DOGE in President Trump’s first 100 days.

Combatting the Screwworm Outbreak

This week, Senator Luján, a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, introduced the bipartisan Strengthening Tactics to Obstruct the Population of Screwworms (STOP Screwworms) Act, legislation that would combat the growing New World screwworm (NWS) outbreak that threatens to wreak havoc on the American cattle industry.

• Source New Mexico: NM delegation reacts to screwworm outbreak

U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, announced on Thursday bipartisan legislation, also sponsored by fellow New Mexico Democrat U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, aimed at curbing the outbreak.

• KRQE: Bill to combat screwworm outbreak co-sponsored by New Mexico Senators

The legislation was introduced by New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Luján and Texas Senator John Cornyn. It was co-sponsored by Martin Heinrich and Ted Cruz. The screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on livestock, wildlife, and in some cases humans.

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