About 42 million Americans are about to lose their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on November 1, when federal funding ends in the midst of the government shutdown.
The USDA website blamed Democrats for not agreeing to approve a continuing resolution to fund the government, as they continue to demand negotiations for the ACA subsidies before reopening.
Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.
SNAP has already suffered from Trump’s Big BS Bill to the tune of $186 billion in cuts.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed there would be no emergency funding to help cover the benefits, saying “the well has run dry.”
The USDA’s shutdown contingency plan said the agency has a reserve of contingency funds, which can be used to pay benefits directly.
The plan, which was set up in September, has been removed from the website.
- In a letter to USA Today the USDA explained that contingency money is available only “to supplement regular monthly benefits when amounts have been appropriated for, but are insufficient to cover, benefits.”
- “The contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists,” the letter said.
A 37-year-old Oklahoma mother named Jenna said she has been using SNAP since 2017. Jenna works full time running a tree farm that sells to retail nurseries, but with two children with special needs she misses some work. She receives approximately $600 per month in SNAP benefits, and says it may last 2-3 weeks or up to a month, depending on the fluctuations of food prices.
“I’m on Facebook. I see all the posts right now that, ‘It shouldn’t matter that SNAP’s going away, because all these people could just go get jobs,'” Jenna said. “And I stay out of it, but I work a full-time job, and I can’t make ends meet because of the needs of my children.”