Georgia Republican Representative Rich McCormick was called out after he justified the White House's federal aid freeze on school lunch programs by suggesting that some children could benefit more from working than receiving free meals.
During an interview on CNN, McCormick defended the decision as an opportunity to reassess government spending priorities. CNN anchor Pamela Brown pointed out that childhood cancer research funds could be subject to the freeze and that Head Start, a program providing nutritional support to low-income children and families, could be among those impacted.
McCormick replied with the following when Brown asked whether he would back cuts to free breakfast and lunch programs:
"Philanthropy is where you get most of your money for childhood cancer research. You look at what [President Donald Trump] just proposed: a half trillion dollar spending bill on AI to produce cancer early detection in the first stage on most body parts. That's his spending bill where he wants to increase cancer research."
"It's just about what pile of money it comes out of. When you talk about school lunches, hey, I worked my way through high school. Before I was even 13 years old, I was picking berries in the field, before child labor laws that precluded that. I was a paper boy, and when I was in high school, I worked my entire way through."
"You’re telling me that kids who stay at home instead of going to work at Burger King, McDonald’s, during the summer, should stay at home and get their free lunch instead of going to work? I think we need to have a top-down review."
Brown noted that McCormick's remarks are "not a fair assessment," adding:
"So you would say that all the kids in your district who use the free lunch or breakfast, they're all just sitting at home and not working? I just want to clarify because it seems that's what you're trying to insinuate."
McCormick doubled down:
"This gives us a chance to see where is the money really being spent? Who can actually go and produce their own income? Who can actually go out there and do something that makes them have value and work skills for the future?"
"How many people got their start in fast food restaurants when they were kids versus just giving a blanket rule that gives all kids lunches in high school who are actually capable of going out and getting a job and doing something that makes them have value, thinking about their future instead of thinking about how they're going to sponge off the government when they don't need to?"
"We don't give people value. We don't give them the ability to dig themselves out when we penalize them for working and keep them on welfare. That's what's been the inner-city problem for a long time. We need to have a top-down review so we can get people out of poverty."
"You know what? America is very good at giving people jobs and giving people worth. We've been traditionally very good at that but we're losing our way. That's when we give people incentives to stay at home and not work. That doesn't work for America."
When Brown pointed out that the majority of the children who would be impacted by these cuts "aren't even of working age," McCormick smirked and said:
"I get that. It doesn't apply to everybody."
You can watch their exchange in the video below.
McCormick was widely criticized.
The Agriculture Department's Food and Nutrition Service administers the National School Lunch Program, which provides free meals to eligible children. According to a program fact sheet, children qualify based on participation in other federal programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or their status as homeless, migrant, runaway, or foster children.
But the sudden halt on federal grants and loans—which also impacts kids enrolled in Head Start or similar state-funded pre-K programs eligible for free meals—has created significant confusion across all levels of government.
A Trump administration official stated that the move is not a funding freeze but a "pause" to allow agencies time to review whether federal grants and loans align with recent executive actions by Trump. The official added that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been coordinating with agencies to exempt certain programs.
Though the freeze was set to begin at 5 p.m. Tuesday, a federal district judge intervened minutes before the cutoff and set a hearing for further arguments Monday morning.
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