SEE IT: SNAP advocate defends taxpayer-funded Coca-Cola in fiery exchange with GOP lawmaker on waste

Rep. Brandon Gill. R-Texas, questioned a SNAP policy advocate over whether taxpayers should fund sugary soda purchases, repeatedly asking whether Americans "need Coca-Cola to survive."

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, sparred with a SNAP policy advocate during a House Oversight subcommittee hearing Thursday, pressing her to answer whether Americans "need Coca-Cola to survive". whether taxpayer-funded food benefits should pay for sugary sodas.

The exchange came as lawmakers examined waste, fraud. abuse in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a roughly $100 billion program that servesmore than 40 million Americans. During the hearing. Republicans argued lax oversight had enabled misuse of taxpayer dollars, while Democrats warned against restricting benefits for eligible families.

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Rep. Brandon Gill. R-Texas, leaves the House Republican Conference caucus meeting in the Capitol on May 6, 2025.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Gill first asked Gina Plata-Nino, director of policy. advocacy for the Food Research and Action Center, whether SNAP dollars should be spent on soda. She replied that the program exists to provide families with "food and beverages."

When Gill narrowed the question tosugary sodas, she said she was "happy to talk about hunger. nutrition, but not dictate what Americans should or should not eat."

Gill, clearly unsatisfied with the answer, continued pressing. asked whether "tax dollars should be used to pay for sodas" and whether Americans "need sugary sodas to survive."

"Some of them do. who do have low blood issues," Plata-Nino reasoned, adding that those "who have kidney issues" might need such drinks, as well.

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A customer shops for eggs at a grocery store on March 12, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois.(Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Unrelenting, the congressman followed up: "Do the American people need Coca-Cola to survive?.. What's nutritional about Coca-Cola?"

"I am not a nutritionist. I am a food security expert," Plata-Nino replied.

Gill later argued that "there's not nutritional value to sugary sodas". criticized the witness for declining to say taxpayers should not fund their purchases through SNAP.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps more than 40 million Americans afford groceries.(Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

"I think that focusing on soda when people are going hungry," Plata-Nino began before Gill interrupted.

"We spend a lot of our tax dollars.. on soda. That's why I'm asking about it," he lamented.

The exchange ended with Gill asking whether drinking soda every day is healthy. She replied that "the worst health outcome is hunger". emphasized that her focus was ensuring families have access to food resources.

Amanda Macias covers the intersection of business, economics. politics, with a focus on how policy decisions shape markets, businesses and American workers.