Millions of Americans might soon run out of access to essential food aid as the current government shutdown looms to suspend SNAP benefits in a number of states.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP – better known as food stamps – assists approximately 42 million low-income Americans, but officials now say the program has to cut payments beginning November 1 if Congress doesn’t end the budget standoff.
SNAP, funded by the federal government and operated by individual states, distributes monthly electronic benefits that are used by families to buy food staples. But now, on the 21st day of the shutdown, states are threatening that their money will run out in days unless the federal government reopens or approves emergency appropriations.
In Texas, authorities have raised an alarm, indicating that millions of recipients may have their November benefits suspended completely should the shutdown extend beyond October 27. In the same vein, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services made a public announcement indicating, “Because Republicans in Washington DC didn’t pass a federal budget, leading to the federal government shutdown, November 2025 SNAP benefits cannot be paid.”
The other states, however, such as Minnesota and New York, have also warned that their benefits are “at risk” or in danger of being delayed based on the duration of the shutdown.
The implications could be catastrophic. SNAP has been a safety net for those who can barely afford to eat. The program is entirely funded by federal dollars. States have nothing of their own to keep it running when those dollars are exhausted.
This follows on the heels of another impending crisis: the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), which provides access to wholesome food and medical care for over 7 million low-income mothers, children, and pregnant parents. The White House released $300 million in emergency funds last week to sustain WIC through October 31, but those will be depleted by early November.
WIC administrators are already threatening that the program will collapse if the shutdown persists. “Without new dollars, State WIC Agencies would be forced to take extreme steps that deny families access to the services they require, like ending food benefits,” said Georgia Machell, CEO of the National WIC Association, in a release. “This would directly threaten the nutrition and health of millions of mothers, babies, and young children.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which runs both SNAP and WIC, has sounded the alarm as well. In a recent letter to state health administrators, Ronald Ward, acting administrator of SNAP, warned that if the ongoing appropriations lapse is not resolved, there will be “not enough funds to cover full November SNAP benefits for about 42 million people nationwide.”
This isn’t the first time SNAP has faced turbulence in recent months. President Donald Trump’s megabill, passed earlier this year, already cut the program by an estimated $186 billion over 10 years, significantly reducing the safety net for low-income households.
Now, the stalemate of the shutdown is moving families further along toward the edge. Without immediate federal action, tens of millions could be cut off from food in weeks – a situation that advocacy groups caution would deepen hunger and poverty across the country.
The squeeze is now on Congress to approve a spending bill and reopen government functions before November 1, when both SNAP and WIC are scheduled to exhaust their funds. In the meantime, millions of Americans are left hanging, wondering if they will be able to feed themselves and their families next month.
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