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The U.S. House of Representatives approved the budget resolution known as H.Con.Res.14 on Feb. 25 that progresses Trump’s plan for “one big beautiful bill.” The vote was almost entirely split among party lines in a tight 217-215 margin.
The resolution, endorsed by President Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, proposes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in spending reductions. While framed as a move toward fiscal responsibility, the proposed cuts are set to disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, particularly education, healthcare and nutrition, through cutting funding for crucial programs. Among those at risk are school nutrition initiatives, which provide essential support for children. This budget resolution threatens these critical services and politicizes spaces — such as school cafeterias — that should remain free of division, where children should feel secure and supported rather than stigmatized.
Under Community Eligibility Provision, schools with 25% or more students receiving assistance through programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families are eligible to provide free breakfast and lunch to students. However, the new budget proposal seek to raise the eligibility threshold to 60%. This would severely restrict access to free meals for countless students, especially those from low-income families. Within the Monroe County Community School Corporation alone, this would affect CEP eligibility for seven schools, and 2292 students.
School lunches have proved vital for student health and well-being, supplying students with the necessary nutrition to allow them to focus and learn. In some cases, meals at school provide children with about half of their daily calories. Studies show that receiving free or reduced-price lunch reduces food insecurity, obesity rates and poor health outcomes among children. However, with the passing of this budget resolution, hundreds of thousands of children could lose access to these essential meals. The Food Research and Action Center estimates that these cuts could affect as many as 12 million children.
Almost 20% of children in the United States live in homes with unreliable access to sufficient food. According to a 2021 Bloomington Food Access Report, about 16% of households in Monroe County experience food insecurity, 3% higher than the state average. School nutrition staff see this hunger daily as children eagerly await meals that provide the energy they need to concentrate on their lessons. Indiana is one of 14 states that have not implemented or proposed policies for universal school meals, which raises concerns for the 284 schools and 122,769 students who would lose eligibility under proposed CEP changes.
These changes proposed to the CEP would make it harder for schools to provide meals to the students who need them most. The current system simplifies meal access but schools would have to reintroduce complex paperwork and administrative processes to ensure eligibility under the new budget. This means more work for school administrators and additional barriers for parents trying to ensure their children get the nutrition they need to succeed. In schools not participating in CEP, students would face even more hurdles to access free and reduced-price meals with the added burden of navigating complicated paperwork that often discourages participation.
The cafeteria, which should be a space where students are guaranteed a meal, risks becoming a battleground where the politics of a divided nation spill over into the lunch line. The potential for social stigma is high, and for children who may already feel the weight of socioeconomic disparities, this singles them out and could deepen feelings of shame and alienation. It introduces a notion of disproportion that children should not be aware of, especially in the school cafeteria.
With President Trump’s endorsement of the measure, this proposal seeks to funnel money into border security and military spending while shrinking the programs that support the most vulnerable in our society. This is a deeply flawed approach. The government has a job to provide schools with the necessary funding to foster a space where children from diverse backgrounds come together to learn.
The solution lies in prioritizing policies ensuring every child has access to the nutrition they need to succeed — not in furthering a political agenda that leaves our children hungry.
Makayla Prible is a senior majoring in media science.
