The GOP Congressman uses a demeaning message to support a bill that would require people to work in order to receive certain federal benefits. He implies it is necessary to stop people from purchasing marijuana using taxpayer money and laying on their couches eating Cheetos.
During an appearance on Fox Business on Wednesday, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) was asked about recently filed Republican legislation that would impose restrictions on access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—specifically mandating that able-bodied people under 65 work at least 20 hours per week in order to receive the assistance.
This is already federal law. However, the lead sponsor of this bill was Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-SD claims that his America Works Act will close loopholes exploited by certain states.
Fallon’s justification for the bill was to play into stereotypes about cannabis and argue that welfare recipients are buying medical cannabis with federal funds.
What do you know? He said, “We have a message to send these people.” If you are able-bodied, and want to milk taxpayers for money, then those days have passed. “Get off the couch. Stop eating Cheetos. Stop buying medical marijuana. And stop watching television.”
He said that the American taxpayer was fed up. “We can’t afford to fund the federal budget with deficits like these when we spend more on interest than on military.” This should serve as a warning that if we do not change our course we will lose the great Republic we have.
Rep. Fallon, on the reduction of food stamps for low-income families: “We’ve got a message: You can no longer milk taxpayers if you are able to work. Stop watching TV, eating Cheetos and buying medical marijuana. You’re actually… pic.twitter.com/3MJljcMBab
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 26, 2025
There’s no specific mention of cannabis in the bill itself—nor is there evidence of rampant abuse of the SNAP program to buy marijuana, which is already prohibited under federal law.
Certain Republican members of Congress are not unfamiliar with the marijuana narrative.
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For example, in 2021 Republican legislators introduced a law aimed at prohibiting people from using federal assistance to buy marijuana at dispensaries. The bill was titled the “Welfare for Needs not Weed Act.”
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), the lead Republican sponsor of a marijuana banking reform bill, also included language in a separate welfare-related bill in 2021 that would make it so people could not use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds at “any establishment that offers marihuana…for sale.”
The House Ways and Means Committee passed a previous version of this legislation in 2018 as part of an broader Jobs Bill, but the bill was never enacted.
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Side Pocket Images. Photo by Chris Wallis.
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