WASHINGTON U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue faced heated questioning Wednesday over President Donald Trumps new proposal to slash food stamps.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) asked Perdue at a hearing why hed said last week that he didnt favor cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is overseen by Perdues agency, given that the Trump budget cuts the program.

Contrary to the budget, Perdue simply said that SNAP would be fully funded in the next fiscal year and that any changes would be up to Congress.

The legislative proposal going forward is obviously something you and all of your members in Congress will deal with and have your stamp on that, Perdue said. He also said he stood by his comment last week that SNAP isnt broken and doesnt need fixing.

Its true that presidential budgets are basically just suggestions , and that it will be up to Congress to set spending levels, but its hard to reconcile Perdues sunny outlook on SNAP with the Trump administrations push to cut the program by $193 billion over 10 years, or more than 25 percent of the programs projected cost in that time.

One possible explanation for Perdues comment Wednesday is that he wants to pretend that Trumps budget simply does not exist. A USDA spokesperson said the policy changes recommended in the budget would be considered by Congress when it next reauthorizes SNAP next year as in, not right now.

More than 42 million Americans receive SNAP benefits, making it one of the biggest safety net programs in the U.S. Benefits average about $125 per month and can be used only for food products in grocery stores.

The biggest way the Trump budget cuts federal SNAP spending is by gradually requiring states to cover 25 percent of the cost of benefits, which are currently funded completely by the federal government. The budget would also let states reduce benefit levels, which they would probably want to do if the program starts draining their budgets. A quarter of the cost of food stamps in Texas, for instance, is roughly equivalent to what the state pays 64,000 public school teachers, according to the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities .

Another way the Trump administration has proposed reducing nutrition spending would be to restrict benefits to able-bodied adults who dont have jobs or dependents, such as children or elderly parents. Federal law already limits benefits to able-bodied adults, allowing only three months of assistance. States are allowed to waive the limit in areas with high unemployment, but the Trump budget would raise the threshold so that fewer counties could qualify for the waiver.

Additionally, the Trump administration thinks retailers who accept SNAP benefits at their stores should be required to pay the USDA a modest fee for participating in the program.

My hope is that this budget document is dead on arrival, DeLauro said.