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New federal work requirements for certain recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program went into effect Sunday, representing the latest move by the Trump administration to tighten eligibility standards and curb abuse in government welfare programs.

The revised policy requires some able-bodied adults without dependents to work, enroll in job-training programs, or perform volunteer service for at least 20 hours each week in order to continue receiving food-stamp assistance.

The rules include several exemptions. Individuals with verified medical conditions, as well as those responsible for caring for young children, may qualify to remain on the program without meeting the weekly work requirement.

Administration officials say the goal of the changes is to ensure that government safety-net programs remain focused on those most in need, such as seniors, people with disabilities, pregnant women, and low-income families raising children.

The SNAP policy shift also fits into a broader legislative effort by congressional Republicans to strengthen work standards across multiple public-assistance programs, including Medicaid and federal housing aid, through measures currently being debated in Congress.

In a May 2025 opinion piece published in The New York Times, several senior administration officials argued that federal welfare programs have moved away from their intended purpose. The article was authored by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner.

The officials pointed to an increase in able-bodied adults without children receiving government benefits, a trend they said accelerated after Medicaid was expanded in many states.

Referring to research conducted by an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, they wrote that only 44 percent of able-bodied, working-age Medicaid recipients without dependents logged at least 80 hours of work during the month examined.

The authors said welfare programs should function as temporary support designed to help individuals regain independence rather than as permanent assistance.

They wrote that welfare should serve as a “short-term hand-up, not a lifetime handout.”

“Our agencies are united in a very straightforward policy approach: Able-bodied adults receiving benefits must work, participate in job training or volunteer in their communities at least 20 hours a week,” the officials wrote.

Supporters of the new SNAP policy say the requirements will help expand the workforce, safeguard taxpayer funds, and discourage long-term reliance on government benefits.

Administration officials have also described the policy shift as part of a broader initiative to address improper payments and fraud in federal aid programs, though they have not yet outlined specific anti-fraud enforcement measures tied directly to the changes that took effect March 1.

Polling referenced in the opinion essay suggested that between 60 percent and 80 percent of Americans favor work requirements in programs such as Medicaid.

Advocates for the policy also highlight the bipartisan welfare reform law enacted in 1996 under President Bill Clinton, which linked certain benefits to employment and was credited with increasing workforce participation and lowering child poverty during the late 1990s.

Opponents of work requirements have long argued that such policies can introduce bureaucratic obstacles that cause qualified individuals to lose benefits even when they are meeting program standards.

Administration officials reject that argument, saying the real problem is reliance on welfare rather than employment, and stressing that recipients can fulfill the requirement through jobs, job-training programs, or volunteer work.

Officials at the Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development have indicated they are ready to apply similar work standards to other programs under their authority, working alongside Congress and state governments to formalize the policy changes.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Tuesday that the ultimate objective in confronting Iran is to stop the Islamic Republic from emerging as the dominant military power in the Middle East.

Speaking in Jerusalem during an interview with Newsmax correspondent Zach Anders, Herzog said Israel’s aspirations are not about controlling the region but about achieving stability and peace, invoking the biblical image of a people living securely in their homeland.

“It’s not our aim to come and say all to all other nations we’re hegemonious,” Herzog said. “As we say, we want to live in peace and dwell, you know, under our palm tree, as the Bible says.”

Herzog acknowledged that some might see advantages to holding overwhelming military power in the region, but he stressed that such dominance is not Israel’s goal.

“But we don’t necessarily have to say it because it’s not that we are now in an ego battle,” he said. “What we are trying to say is we want to build a coalition of nations that in terms of moving toward peace, in a dialog between Jew and Muslim and Christian, something that brings a better future to our children.

“That’s what we’re trying to do.”

President Donald Trump, speaking Saturday after the United States and Israel launched their joint military campaign against Iran, accused the Iranian regime of backing terrorist groups responsible for widespread violence.

Trump said the Islamic Republic had armed, trained, and financed militias “that had soaked the earth with blood and guts.”

Herzog also directed remarks toward the Iranian public, urging them to reflect on how their leadership has used the nation’s resources to support terrorism abroad rather than improving conditions for their own citizens.

“All you worked for has been spent on terror all over the world and in other countries in the region, just to create havoc and terror and pain and agony and bloodshed,” Herzog said. “Just as President Trump boldly explained in his statement.”

{Matzav.com}