Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Millions of Americans could lose access to critical food assistance programs if the government shutdown continues into next month.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as well as another assistance program for women, infants and children, are at risk of running out of federal dollars in days.
If Congress doesn’t pass a spending bill, or if the Trump administration doesn’t find more funds, SNAP and WIC may run out of money by Nov. 1. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says SNAP has about $6 billion left in its contingency fund. But the total bill for November benefits is closer to $8 billion.
“In November we are worried about losing all that money for funding,” said Gbenga Ajilore, chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, adding it would be the first time ever SNAP has not been funded.
“SNAP has always been funded. There’s been discussions about eligibility and things like that. But we’ve always funded SNAP. This would be the first time SNAP actually wouldn’t be funded,” said Ajilore.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program supports roughly 42 million Americans. WIC helps more than 6 million pregnant women, new moms and young children buy essentials like formula and baby food.
Ajilore said Americans who rely on food assistance are at risk — including those in rural areas.
“Upwards of 6.6 million rural residents also take SNAP. And in fact, people take SNAP at a higher rate in rural areas as opposed to metro areas,” said Ajilore.
Chances for a deal in time to provide November’s benefits are fading as partisan attacks escalate.
“This is purely Democrats. They’re doing some really bad things. I think they’re, they’re lost souls,” said President Trump.
Democrats remain locked in, demanding extensions to Affordable Care Act tax credits in exchange for their support to reopen the government. They say they’re open to negotiate but accuse Republicans of refusing to come to the table ahead of another key deadline.
“November 1st is around the corner. Families are going to have to pick their insurance policies then. It’s a crisis and it needs to be addressed immediately,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “Trump keeps trying to say ‘this health care crisis can wait,’ House Republicans say, ‘we can do it later.’ That’s B.S. When they say later, they mean never.”
Republicans say there’s a time and place for those negotiations.
“We can’t really get to that negotiation till the government opens,” said Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa. “Democrats are trying to have that negotiation while they’re using the government shutdown as leverage. I think that’s a mistake. Those discussions can begin, and the president said, the majority leader said we are ready to have that discussion about how those subsidies should be treated,” McCormick added.
With just days until November, millions of families are watching and waiting — hoping lawmakers reach an agreement on healthcare to prevent critical nutrition assistance funding from running dry.
Some states are taking additional action to mitigate the impact of federal SNAP dollars running dry. Virginia, for example, has declared a state of emergency to free up some funds. Other states are looking at programs they can cut to free up more SNAP dollars.
