A change to SNAP benefits beyond the statutory amount referenced in the TFP would require legislative action. Both increases in existing benefits and an extension of the temporary benefits that had been in place were champion by many Democrats, but ultimately died through lack of bipartisan support as such I don’t think we can lay the blame for this particular government failure at the feet of the outgoing administration. It was this fight and others like it that the GOP saw as strategically important to regaining executive power.
I get how obviously the GOP was incentivized to block that, but be all that as it may, if the Democrats can't get it done with the power they already have, including the power of the bully pulpit and all legislative horse trading they could have engaged in, they should be completely unsurprised if the people who got burned as a result are loath to give them any additional power.
Honestly even though I disagree with the TrumpGOP 70% of the time, I'm actually kind of happy to see them control the whole thing, at least we can now put a bunch of right-wing ideas to the test rather than just have a big political wrestling match that usually ends in a draw, like we have for most of the past 3 presidencies. The thing is, without the government trying to destroy itself with infighting, right-wing ideas at least have some upsides, such as lower taxes. We have mostly seen the worst of both sides' ideas with few of the gains due to sabotage being so common.
Republicans had exactly this chance in 2016, and showed that their policies are just a bunch of hot air. The border? chaos. Repealing Obamacare? They were caught completely flat-footed and had nothing to offer. Cutting government costs? the debt and deficit grew each year of Trump's first presidency. Shrinking government? Yes, some departments were crippled, and regulations intended to protect consumers and the environment were weakened or reversed; but new regulations were also passed, many of them that benefit business at the expense of employees, consumers, and/or the general public.
Republicans have shown they can't govern. The House has been in complete disarray for the last 4 years, with constant in-fighting among the GOP and just trying to keep the government funded and running. Republicans are constantly flipping on criticizing Trump and fawning over him, depending on which way the wind blows.
It's shocking that so many people prefer a bully-rapist-fraud-felon with "a concept of a plan" who has openly talked multiple times about suspending the Constitution and rights of Americans, over almost any other alternative.
During the first 2 years of 45, the courts were firmly held by anti-Trump, Dem-friendly judges. Lots of stuff Trump tried to do, his campaign promises, were beat back instantly by the courts. Therefore little got done and then 2018 elections took away the ability for Republican (or any other) legislation to be passed due to a split government.
Again I don’t even agree with a lot of Trump stuff - or for instance TCJA which was total BS and raised my taxes. But again, Democrats have done nothing for me when they had power either. Where are healthcare improvements? Where is a better tax cut that actually hits the middle or even lowest earners? They couldn’t get it done because they suck at both convincing enough people to vote for them to get 60 votes in the Senate, and they suck at horse-trading to get the important things.
