The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the government cannot use $6 billion in contingency funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. These benefits are expected to run dry next month unless Congress reopens government spending.
Approximately 42 million people rely on federal help to buy food.
In an undated memo obtained by Axios, the department blames Democrats for putting food security in question for millions of Americans who rely on SNAP benefits due to their voting against a continuing resolution to fund the government.
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“This jeopardizes all SNAP recipients in November, including those that have applied for benefits in the last half of October and furloughed Federal employees who will not receive their combined October/November benefits,” the memo states.
The legality behind funding SNAP
USDA explained in the memo that SNAP contingency funds can only be used to fill a gap in appropriated regular monthly benefits. With November well into the unappropriated 2026 fiscal year, USDA contends that spending the banked funding wouldn’t be legal.
The memo states that paying out SNAP benefits during that time wouldn’t be reimbursed by the federal government once appropriations are passed.
The Child Nutrition Program, which funds school meals, and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) programs are funded by tariff revenue. The memo said using those funds for SNAP would siphon money from groups they’re not willing to short.
Shutdown pressure
Tens of millions of Americans going hungry in just weeks represents the latest move in the complex shutdown brinksmanship between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats as to who will blink first.
At issue is this summer’s Big Beautiful Bill, Trump’s omnibus law that rolled back federal health care subsidies for those using the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. Without that federal assistance, plans are expected to increase in cost by 30%. The bill also tightened Medicaid reimbursement for states based on whether the people they care for in emergency rooms are in the U.S. legally.
Democrats want to bring Trump and Republicans to the bargaining table. They want the ACA changes rescinded and say they’ll approve a continuing resolution (CR) to get the government back up and running.
Republicans have majorities in both chambers of Congress, but they’re several votes short in the Senate to pass a CR on partisan lines. While they have picked up a couple of Democratic Caucus defectors, they’re still a handful short of 60 votes. Some GOP members have also refused to vote for a resolution, saying the measure continues to spend more than the government brings in.
