Elizabeth Butler goes from one supermarket to the next in her home town of Martinsburg, West Virginia, to ensure she gets the best price on each item on her grocery list.

Along with 42 million Americans, she pays for those groceries with federal food subsides. That cash doesn't cover the whole bill for her family of three.

"Our food doesn't even last the month," she says. "I'm going to all these different places just to make sure that we have enough food to last us the whole month."

But that money may soon run out, as Congress gears up to vote on what US President Donald Trump has coined his "big beautiful bill".

The food subsidy programme that Ms Butler uses - called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP - is one of many items on the chopping block, as Congress tries to reconcile the president's seemingly conflicting demands to both lower taxes and balance the budget.

The Senate is due to vote on their version of the bill by the end of the week. If it passes, it will then be voted on by the House, at which point it will be sent to Trump to sign. He has pressured both chambers of Congress, which the Republican Party controls, to pass the bill by 4 July.

SNAP offers low-income households, including older Americans, families with children and people who are disabled, money each month to buy groceries. In West Virginia, one of the states with the highest rates of poverty, 16% of the population depends on the benefit.

The state is also a reliable Republican stronghold and voted overwhelmingly for Trump in November, when he ran on the promise of reducing the cost of living for Americans, including the price of groceries.

"When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One," he said at an August news conference surrounded by packaged foods, milk, meats and eggs.

Months after the president made that pledge, the prices of commonly purchased groceries like orange juice, eggs and bacon are higher than they were the same time last year.

It's a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Ms Butler: "The president hasn't........

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