Sen. Fetterman Blasts Rep. Marshall on School Lunch Resolution: Should Be ‘Free of Judgment’

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., asked if Congress has anything better to do than "picking on kids because of who they are" in response to a resolution that opposes a USDA Food and Nutrition Service guidance proposal that changes the interpretation of discrimination based on sex.

The rule change to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would include sexual orientation and gender identity under the proposal.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., first introduced the resolution in July. He and other Republican lawmakers argue that the new rule could be used to withhold school lunch funding and more for schools that do not comply with the guidance.

"This resolution comes as 22 states are currently suing the USDA for weaponizing the lunch funding against those who don’t adhere to the transgender agenda and allow biological boys to use girls’ bathrooms or locker rooms or have biological boys compete against girls in sports," he wrote a July statement after first introducing the resolution.

Fetterman released his own statement on Tuesday that the USDA is trying to "prevent discrimination against LGBTQ+ students in school nutrition programs."

"I can’t even believe that this resolution is even real. This makes it possible for some random lunch lady to deny lunch to a hungry child because she says her god tells her to. School lunch should be free, and certainly free of judgment," he wrote. "Don't we have better things to do in the upper chamber than picking on kids because of who they are?"