As of November 1st the government has been shut down for 32 days, only 3 days shorter than the 35 day shutdown that occurred in 2019 during Donald Trump’s first term. Today marks an important development in this shutdown as the funding for Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP) has officially expired. This program is relied on by nearly 42 million -1 in 8- Americans, most of which are seniors, families with children and disabled individuals. SNAP is the country’s largest anti-hunger program and dates back to the Great Depression.
While individual states handle the distribution of benefits, The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal overseer of the program and provides funding. On October 10th the USDA notified state officials of insufficient funds requiring them to hold off on releasing benefits for November. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has urged the USDA to utilize its contingency fund to keep the program running as it did with WIC -a program similar to SNAP aimed at women and their young children – earlier this month.
Two judges have issued rulings urging the Trump administration to tap into various emergency funds in order for benefits to continue. On October 31st US District Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island, ordered the Trump administration to distribute money from the USDA’s contingency fund as soon as possible and that by November 3rd at noon for a plan to be submitted on how his order will be complied with, or at the very least an update.
Also on October 31st US District Judge Indira Talwani of Boston ordered that the Trump Administration has until Monday to decide if they will pay at least partial SNAP benefits, declining to use a temporary restraining order that would force the administration to act before funds were set to run out.
States are approaching the issue with various methods aimed at mitigating the impact of this lapse in SNAP benefits. Several states such as Connecticut and Vermont are pulling from local funds to back fill the program and continue its funding from anywhere from a few days to the entire month.
Other states such as South Carolina and Massachusetts are employing the use of relief funds or even creating new ones to provide support to SNAP recipients. Still other states such as Minnesota and New York are sending funds to food bank systems. However despite these efforts, as it is traditionally the federal government’s job to issue these benefits, delays as well as technical and logistical difficulties are expected.
With each passing day of the government shutdown -which originally started as a dispute over the extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies- millions of the most vulnerable Americans are put in an increasingly difficult position as all aspects of this country’s social safety net slowly lose funding .
If the shutdown continues on through Wednesday the 5th it will become the longest shutdown in American history.