May 10, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET • An amendment to the farm bill would add hot rotisserie chicken to the list of foods eligible for SNAP recipients to purchase. • McGovern said that he voted against the amendment because he thinks SNAP recipients should be able to buy any hot food item, not just rotisserie […]
May 10, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET
• An amendment to the farm bill would add hot rotisserie chicken to the list of foods eligible for SNAP recipients to purchase.
• McGovern said that he voted against the amendment because he thinks SNAP recipients should be able to buy any hot food item, not just rotisserie chickens.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., voted against an amendment to allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to be used for hot rotisserie chicken – because he thinks all hot foods should be included.
The legislation would add hot rotisserie chicken to the list of foods eligible for SNAP recipients to purchase. Currently, the purchase of hot prepared foods is prohibited under SNAP.
On April 30, the amendment passed 384 – 35, with McGovern being one of just 12 Democrats and the only Massachusetts representative to vote against the bill.
Why did McGovern vote against rotisserie chicken bill?
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, said on April 22 that allowing SNAP recipients to purchase hot rotisserie chicken is a “simple, practical step to make the program work better.”
But in a statement on social media, McGovern said that he voted against the amendment to support the Hot Foods Act, a bill sponsored by Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., that would allow SNAP recipients to buy any hot or prepared food at a grocery store.
“People on food assistance (most are seniors, kids, or Americans with disabilities) should be free to buy any hot food item at the grocery store, not just rotisserie chickens,” McGovern said. “Instead of the Hot Foods Act, these Republicans advanced a single-industry carve-out, pushed by lobbyists, for big grocers and billionaire food conglomerates. I’ve dedicated my life to defending food assistance for hungry Americans & expanding SNAP-eligible foods. I voted against the rotisserie chicken amendment to preserve our ability to demand inclusion of the full Hot Foods Act as the farm bill heads to the Senate.”
The House passed the amendment as part of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, a sweeping food and agricultural bill known colloquially as the “farm bill,” on a vote of 224-200. 14 Democrats joined all but three Republicans in voting for the bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said that the bill will deliver “real relief and certainty for our rural America and for all Americans.”
All Massachusetts Democrats voted against it.
“This farm bill hurts rural communities, betrays farmers, and locks in the $187 billion Republicans stole from food assistance to give tax breaks to billionaires,” McGovern said on social media. “You can’t be healthy if you’re hungry, but this bill makes it harder for families to afford good, nutritious food.”
The bill now heads to the Senate. There, lawmakers both across and within party lines have butted heads on several provisions of the legislation.
Therefore, it’s unclear what will happen to the bill and its hot rotisserie chicken amendment.…Read more by Margie Cullen