Republican suggests students work at McDonald’s instead of getting free school lunches
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USA TODAY
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), who supports the White House’s federal aid freeze possibly impacting school lunch programs, suggested in an interview that children get jobs, including working at McDonald’s, to pay for their lunches.
The Georgia Republican spoke to CNN on Tuesday about President Donald Trump recently signing an executive order pausing federal grants so his administration can review them and determine what should be prioritized.
The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a memo on Monday directing federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance,” Reuters reported. The deadline for the freeze was supposed to go into effect on Tuesday by 5 p.m. ET.
But just minutes before the directive was to go into effect, U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan temporarily blocked the action until Feb. 3. The administrative stay halted the freeze, but the ruling does not block the Trump administration from preventing funding to new programs or require it to restart funding that has already ended.
During the interview conducted before the federal judge’s decision, CNN anchor Pamela Brown mentioned that Head Start, which provides nutrition support to low-income children and families with food insecurities, is one of the federal programs that could be affected by the freeze. She then questioned McCormick on whether or not he would support cutting funding for free breakfast and lunches.
“Before I was even 13 years old, I was picking berries in the field before (the) child labor laws that precluded that. I was a paper boy, and when I was in high school, I worked my entire way through,” McCormick told Brown. “You’re telling me that kids who stay at home instead of going to work at Burger King (and) 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.”
McCormick: Freeze will allow government to ‘see where is the money really being spent’
McCormick, who did the interview from Doral, Florida, where House Republicans were having their annual issues conference, acknowledged that all children aren’t working age but said the pause on federal funds will allow the government to “see where is the money really being spent.”
“Who can actually go and actually produce their own income? Who can actually go out there and do something that makes them have value and work skills for the future?” McCormick said during the interview.
The congressman then further elaborated on his child labor comments by saying, “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 capable of going out and actually getting a job and doing something that makes them have value.”
He added that children should be “thinking about their future instead of thinking about how they’re going to sponge out the government when they don’t need to.”
How much federal money is affected by the freeze?
While the memo outlines that the freeze won’t affect Medicare or Social Security benefits, McCormick said the government does not allow people to “dig themselves out” and instead “penalizes them for actually working and actually keeps them on welfare.”
The memo does not specify how many federal grants will be affected by the freeze, but it notes that federal financial assistance totaled $3 trillion in fiscal year 2024. Over twenty agencies provide grants, including the Departments of Education, Transportation, and Defense, according to Grants.gov.
K-12 federal funds, such as Title I money for low-income school districts, are also on the list of programs up for review, according to a set of instructions provided to federal agencies by the White House.
According to the memo, “Career and political appointees in the executive branch have a duty to align federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through presidential priorities.” The document then lists Trump’s priorities, which include making the country safer, ending “wokeness” and promoting government efficiency.
Contributing: Erin Mansfield/ USA TODAY
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