The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will not be distributed on November 1 due to the ongoing government shutdown. A notice on the department’s website attributes the disruption to Senate Democrats, according to NBC News, leaving more than 40 million Americans at risk of losing food assistance this week.
“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the USDA statement reads.
Funding Standoff
Over 200 Democratic members of Congress have urged the agency to use contingency funds to keep the program running, according to the Guardian. Those reserves currently hold between $5 billion and $6 billion, per The Hill—not enough to fully cover the $8 billion in benefits due on November 1. The funds could, however, provide limited relief.
An internal USDA memo, cited by Axios, says those contingency funds cannot be accessed during a shutdown, and that states will not be reimbursed if they choose to cover the payments themselves.
Who’s Affected
SNAP benefits—averaging about $187 a month—primarily assist working families, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. Recipients typically must earn less than 130% of the federal poverty level to qualify. For many, the program is a supplement to low wages rather than a replacement for work.
Advocates warn the interruption could spark the most severe hunger crisis in the United States since the Great Depression. The Trump administration has already reduced SNAP spending by nearly $187 billion through 2024, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Food banks, already stretched thin, are bracing for surging demand.
“We will be there to do as much as we can,” said the president of the Oregon Food Bank. “And it will not be enough.”
Political Divide
Republican lawmakers argue that Democrats’ insistence on preserving Affordable Care Act subsidies has stalled efforts to reopen the government. Democrats dispute GOP claims regarding benefits for undocumented immigrants and counter that the health care subsidies support many of the same low-income households that depend on SNAP.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told CNN on Sunday that Republicans have been unwilling to negotiate. “The reality is, if they sat down to try to negotiate, we could probably come up with something pretty quickly,” Murphy said. “We could open up the government on Tuesday or Wednesday, and there wouldn’t be any crisis in the food stamp program.”