Food assistance expiring: How the government shutdown is impacting people in need
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Updated: 4:29 PM CDT Oct 24, 2025
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Forty million Americans could lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits next week as the government shutdown continues, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). The White House has faced mounting pressure to utilize existing funds to maintain food aid distribution. A multi-billion-dollar contingency fund is available at the USDA to fund SNAP in case of a shutdown. The Trump administration has not said whether those funds will be released to fund food aid."Look, nobody wants people not to have the food that they need, and we urge the Democrats to get the government open. And Russ Vought is doing everything he can to make sure that the most essential policies are still able to be funded with the money that we have," said Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council.An estimate from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities showed SNAP helps one in eight Americans buy groceries, and the USDA has informed states they will run out of funding by November first if the government shutdown continues.States like Vermont and Louisiana say they'll try to keep food aid going if federal funds run out. However, others, including Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Missouri, and Oklahoma, have urged families to prepare by stretching October benefits into November, stocking up on canned goods and non-perishables, and utilizing food banks.In a new letter today, more than 200 House Democrats called on the administration to use those contingency funds. At the center of the government shutdown is a debate over whether to extend some tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. Those subsidies expire at the end of the year, but Democrats have pushed to pass an extension ahead of 2025 open enrollment. Republicans argued that now is not the time for that debate. GOP leaders have said they'd be willing to negotiate an extension but only after the government reopens.See more Washington News Bureau coverage of the government shutdown below:
WASHINGTON — Forty million Americans could lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits next week as the government shutdown continues, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). The White House has faced mounting pressure to utilize existing funds to maintain food aid distribution.
A multi-billion-dollar contingency fund is available at the in case of a shutdown. The Trump administration has not said whether those funds will be released to fund food aid.
"Look, nobody wants people not to have the food that they need, and we urge the Democrats to get the government open. And Russ Vought is doing everything he can to make sure that the most essential policies are still able to be funded with the money that we have," said Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council.
An estimate from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities showed and the USDA has informed states they will run out of funding by November first if the government shutdown continues.
States like Vermont and Louisiana say they'll try to keep food aid going if federal funds run out. However, others, including Pennsylvania, , Missouri, and Oklahoma, have urged families to prepare by stretching October benefits into November, stocking up on canned goods and non-perishables, and utilizing food banks.
In a new letter today, more than
At the center of the government shutdown is a debate over whether to extend some tax credits under the Those subsidies expire at the end of the year, but Democrats have pushed to pass an extension ahead of 2025 open enrollment. Republicans argued that now is not the time for that debate. GOP leaders have said they'd be willing to negotiate an extension but only after the government reopens.
See more Washington News Bureau coverage of the government shutdown below:
