NPR

Trump Wants To Limit Aid For Low-Income Americans. A Look At His Proposals

Low-income Americans who take advantage of government safety net programs could be affected by a number of proposed rules and actions in areas such as housing, food aid, overtime and immigration.
Harlem residents choose free groceries at the Food Bank For New York City in 2013. A number of new rules and actions proposed by the Trump administration could affect poor or low-income people who take advantage of government safety net programs.

If you're poor or low-income in the U.S. and take advantage of government safety net programs, you could be affected by a number of new rules and actions proposed by the Trump administration. Most of the changes are still pending, and anti-poverty groups are trying to stop them from going into effect. Some of the proposals already face legal challenges.

President Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to get more people off government aid and into the workforce so they can become self-sufficient. To help do that, he issued an executive order last year to reduce poverty "by promoting opportunity and economic mobility."

In it, Trump called on federal agencies to streamline existing welfare programs, strengthen work requirements and make sure that taxpayer money is spent on "those who are truly in need."

But anti-poverty advocates say the administration's proposals would hurt, rather than help, poor Americans. They say it will make it more difficult for those trying to become self-sufficient by denying them food, housing

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