Sullivan voted for the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that contained the largest cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in history. Sullivan also supported work requirements for SNAP under the bill, which would disproportionately impact 20% of the Alaskan workforce that are classified as seasonal workers.
Sullivan Supported SNAP And Medicaid Work Requirements And Claimed He Would Ensure Administrative Burdens Do Not Block Access To The Programs. According to the Anchorage Daily News, “His office declined an interview request later in the week. Instead, his spokesperson Amanda Coyne offered a written statement by email, in which she said that Sullivan ‘generally supports work requirements for Medicaid and SNAP, with commonsense exceptions, such as for recipients who have mental health conditions, or who live in rural areas where employment options are limited.’ ‘While the Senator supports greater accountability in these programs, he will work with the state, which will be implementing the requirements, to ensure that paperwork and administrative burdens do not prevent people from accessing the safety net programs they need,’ Coyne wrote.” [Anchorage Daily News, 6/8/25]
Sullivan’s Office Referred To SNAP As A “Critical Lifeline” For Low-Income Alaskans And Said They Were Working To Ensure Changes To SNAP In The Reconciliation Bill Would Account For Alaska’s “Unique Needs.” According to the Nome Nugget, “‘Senator Sullivan believes SNAP is a critical lifeline for low-income families in Alaska, especially in rural communities where the high cost of living far outpaces the rest of the country,’ said a spokesperson for Senator Dan Sullivan. ‘Alaska’s vast size and many remote communities create unique challenges in administering the program here, resulting in higher error rates. Senator Sullivan and his team have been working with the state to address this error rate. We are also working to ensure any changes to SNAP in the reconciliation bill take Alaskan’s unique needs into account and continue to deliver benefits to eligible Alaskans.’” [Nome Nugget, 6/5/25]
Sullivan Claimed Alaska “Really Did Well” In The Reconciliation Bill And That The State Was In “Good Shape” Regarding Medicaid And SNAP. According to Alaska’s News Source, “Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, told Alaska’s News Source ‘the one state that really, really did well in this bill was the great state of Alaska.’ ‘This is a jobs bill for Alaska,’ he said. ‘This is all about creating really good strong private sector-led jobs on the resource development side.’ [...] Sullivan said Alaska was a state removed from the brunt of the cuts, saying the only reductions are from provider taxes and state directed payments, neither of which, he insisted, Alaska uses. ‘I was able to get a rural hospital fund negotiated, a big expansion of it last night, $50 billion for rural hospitals,’ he said. ‘I anticipate Alaska in the next 5 years, we’ll be getting at least $200 million additional federal dollars for hospitals, for Medicaid, for helping patients. So it’s a big win for our rural hospitals and healthcare as well.’ When asked if he was worried for the people who relied on Medicaid and SNAP benefits, Sullivan said the state is ‘in good shape,’ reiterating Alaska is in a different spot because he said Alaska does not use provider taxes or state directed payments.” [Alaska’s News Source, 7/2/25]
Sullivan Claimed He Voted 14 Times For SNAP And Blamed Senator Schumer For Impacts To SNAP Benefits. According to a press release by Senator Dan Sullivan, ““All the issues you're talking about, paying our military, paying the air traffic controllers, paying TSA, making sure we have SNAP funds, every single one of these get solved if there was a simple vote to reopen the government, which is what we've been trying to do. I voted 14 times for SNAP. I'm going to vote for SNAP tomorrow. I've been voting to reopen the government with Senate Democrats. We’ll have more voting with us tomorrow. The one guy who's making sure SNAP benefits are not getting to Americans is the leader of the Democrat Party in the Senate. In my view, he's put in politics above the interests of Alaskans. And it's shameful. Never seen anything like it.’” [Press Release - Senator Dan Sullivan, 11/8/25]
70,000 Alaskans Rely On SNAP Benefits. According to the Food Bank Of Alaska, “Currently, Congress is considering more than $1 trillion in proposed cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. Nearly 70,000 Alaskans rely on SNAP, and 1 in 3 use Medicaid. If these cuts go through, the ripple effects will be felt across every community.” [Food Bank Of Alaska, 6/18/25]
SNAP Work Requirements Would Disproportionately Impact The 20% Of Alaskan Workers That Are Classified As Seasonal Workers With A Comparatively High SNAP Eligibility Rate. According to the Food Bank Of Alaska, “Did you know? Alaska’s workforce is more likely than the national average to work only part of the year. In fact, 20 percent of Alaskan workers were employed for fewer than 38 weeks, compared to 14 percent nationwide. Many Alaskans who rely on SNAP or Medicaid work in seasonal industries. These workers often don’t meet new federal employment requirements under the proposed bill.” [Food Bank Of Alaska, 6/18/25]