WHAT HAPPENED: The House Rules Committee held a hearing on Tuesday on H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 – the Farm Bill — as well as several other pieces of high-priority legislation.
WHY IT MATTERS: Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) introduced an amendment to the bill that would add hot rotisserie chicken to the list of foods eligible for SNAP recipients to purchase – identical to the two standalone bills introduced last week in the House and Senate. Currently, SNAP participants may only purchase cold rotisserie chicken, which is simply refrigerated hot chicken due to an outdated technicality.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT: The bill advanced out of the Rules Committee, and the full House began consideration of the Farm Bill on Wednesday night. Rep. Crawford’s amendment passed by voice vote, but a recorded vote was requested by House Ag Committee Chairman “GT” Thompson (R-PA). On Thursday morning, Rep. Crawford’s amendment to include hot rotisserie chicken in SNAP passed by a huge, bipartisan margin of 384-35. The House then passed the full Farm Bill 224-200.
NCC’s TAKE: This is a commonsense solution to an unnecessary problem. “I want to thank Rep. Crawford for his leadership on this issue, and congratulate him for the passage of his amendment by such a wide and bipartisan margin,” said NCC President Harrison Kircher. “I also want to congratulate House Ag Committee Chairman GT Thompson (R-PA) and committee staff for getting the Farm Bill over the finish line in the House. The ‘Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act’ is popular because it’s a winner on affordability and nutrition. We urge the Senate as they consider their version of the Farm Bill to build on this momentum and the work of Sens. Justice (R-WV), Bennet (D-CO), Fetterman (D-PA) and Capito (R-WV) who last week introduced the bill in the Senate.”
Source: Juanmonino / Getty Images
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
“By allowing the purchase of hot rotisserie chicken, we give families the opportunity to use it as a meal or an ingredient in countless recipes such as chicken salad, enchiladas, soups, and casseroles, and the list goes on. This meaningful change will allow families to enjoy a wider variety of wholesome meals, and the governors from my state of Arkansas and seven other states have already requested waivers from USDA to allow their states to make hot rotisserie chicken SNAP eligible. USDA stated that it does not believe it has the legal authority to grant these waivers without congressional input. So, it’s time for us to act.” — Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR)
Rep. Crawford at hearing
“I just want to say I very much support this amendment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that people cannot buy hot foods with — not just rotisserie chicken, but hot foods with SNAP benefits. They literally can’t buy what I buy for my family to eat at the grocery store, but they can buy candy bars and soda pop. And it just defies logic that we would let them buy candy bars and soda pop, not hot foods, much less rotisserie chicken.” — Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA)
Rep. Scott at hearing
“After raising a pile of kids, I know what a life saver a hot chicken can be when you need to put food on the table at the end of a long day. It’s backwards to stop SNAP families from buying this fast, easy, and affordable meal…time to fix it and give working families a break.” — Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI)
WHAT’s NEXT: Action on the Farm Bill now moves over to the Senate, where a bill has yet to be introduced.
