More than 42 million Americans are at risk of losing critical food assistance in November as the federal government shutdown enters its fourth week, threatening to cut off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, that helps one in eight people buy food each month.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins warned that the food stamp program will run out of money in two weeks if Congress fails to reach a funding deal. “So you’re talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families, of hungry families that are not going to have access to these programs because of this shutdown,” Rollins said Thursday at the White House.
The shutdown has paralyzed key federal programs and forced agencies to ration limited funds. SNAP, the country’s largest anti-hunger initiative, currently has about $6 billion in its contingency fund—roughly $3 billion short of the $9 billion required to provide full benefits next month. Because of the funding gap and the time needed to process electronic payments, millions of families could see their benefits delayed or denied even if Congress passes a stopgap agreement in the coming days.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture told states that “there is not enough money to pay full food stamp benefits in November” and directed officials to “hold off on November payments until further notice.” In an internal memo to state administrators, SNAP acting Associate Administrator Ronald Ward wrote, “Considering the operational issues and constraints that exist in automated systems, and in the interest of preserving maximum flexibility, we are forced to direct States to hold their November issuance files and delay transmission to State EBT vendors until further notice. This includes on-going SNAP benefits and daily files.”
The order has already disrupted operations across the country. Seventeen states have stopped accepting new applications for food stamps because their systems cannot process new enrollees without issuing combined payments for October and November. Other states have suspended or delayed benefits, citing logistical challenges.
Kansas officials said that once Congress passes a funding bill, it would take at least 72 hours to distribute benefits to the state’s 188,000 recipients. In Wisconsin, Governor Tony Evers warned that 700,000 residents are at risk of losing food benefits entirely. Tennessee officials have issued similar warnings, notifying roughly 700,000 recipients that SNAP funding “will cease entirely on Nov. 1 if the government shutdown doesn’t end.”
About 40% of those who receive SNAP benefits are children 17 and younger, and nearly 20% are seniors aged 60 and older, according to USDA data. The remaining 40% are adults aged 18 to 59. The average benefit is $188 per person each month. For many families, those benefits arrive at the beginning of the month and run out by the end. The approaching cutoff comes as food prices remain high and the holiday season nears, straining local food banks that are already operating at capacity.
Rollins, a Trump administration appointee, said Thursday that Democrats were to blame for the funding lapse, accusing them of “putting their political agenda ahead of food security for American families.” Democrats countered that Republicans have refused to negotiate a bipartisan spending deal that includes an extension of expiring health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul condemned the administration’s handling of the program and its directive to halt the release of benefits. “This is a deliberate and unprecedented decision intended to inflict pain on millions of hardworking American families — the federal government should instead do everything in its power to prioritize our most vulnerable and make funding available for this critical program,” Hochul said in a statement Friday.
The USDA previously averted a similar funding crisis earlier this month for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, which provides food assistance to nearly 7 million low-income women and children. The administration shifted $300 million in tariff revenue to sustain WIC through the month, but officials say there are no comparable funds available to cover SNAP’s much larger shortfall. “There is not enough of that tariff revenue to also shore up the food stamp program for November,” a senior USDA official said.
Advocates say the administration’s failure to act swiftly threatens to deepen hunger nationwide. Gina Plata-Nino, acting director of SNAP at the Food Research & Action Center, said that the timing of the potential cutoff is particularly devastating. With Thanksgiving approaching, she said, “food pantries can’t fill the gap since they are already under strain.”
Anti-hunger groups and policy experts are urging the administration to find a solution similar to the one used for WIC. Ty Jones Cox, vice president of food assistance at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said, “We can’t let households who need help purchasing food become another casualty of this shutdown.”
This is not the first time food assistance has been jeopardized during a funding impasse. In the record-long shutdown that began in December 2018, the USDA initially said benefits would run out after January but later invoked a provision allowing it to issue February payments within 30 days of the funding lapse. That workaround prevented a cutoff when the government reopened at the end of January.
So far, no similar contingency has been announced for the current crisis. Without one, states will be forced to suspend benefits indefinitely.
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