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After lawmakers passed a bill to fund the U.S. government on Nov. 12, 2025, ending a weeks-long shutdown, a rumor spread online that the act included major cuts to food safety laws.
The claim spread on Facebook, X and Bluesky. Meanwhile, Snopes readers asked for verification of a popular post from Facebook account Occupy Democrats about the rumor (screenshot).
Senate lawmakers did, in fact, pass provisions in the funding bill that made cuts to FDA rules aimed at preventing food contamination and foodborne illnesses, as first reported by The Lever, an investigative news outlet. These cuts made it into the final legislation, approved by the House of Representatives, that Trump signed into law on Nov. 12.
Thus, we have rated this claim true.
In the Senate, every Republican, seven Democrats and one independent who caucuses with Democrats voted for the bill. In the House, all but two Republicans voted in favor alongside six Democrats who broke with their party.
One Snopes reader also asked whether lawmakers passed the cuts "because they were paid off," an apparent reference to the allegation that the restriction on regulations came after "massive donations from corporate lobbyists." Various representatives of food industries have spent millions of dollars lobbying Congress in support of their interests, including cuts to food safety regulations. Food industry groups also donate to politicians.
Legally speaking, however, lobbying and donations are not the same as bribery, or being "paid off."
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/government-shutdown-food-safety-cuts/
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Government funding bill cuts food safety regulations. See the provisions for yourself