Update, Nov. 3 at 11:30 a.m. PT: The Trump administration will release funds to pay for half of November’s SNAP benefits, following two federal court rulings the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to release the money. (“It shouldn’t take a court order to force our president to provide essential nutrition that Congress has made clear needs to be provided,” lamented Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward.)
Patrick Penn, who oversees the SNAP program at the USDA, warned of disruptions and delays, suggesting many SNAP recipients will still be without benefits for some time. The program will also not be able to assist any new applicants this month.
Originally published by The Contrarian.
When we turn back the clocks this weekend, the Trump administration will simultaneously turn its back on nearly 42 million people in this country—those who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to make a warm, healthy meal.
Still commonly known as food stamps, SNAP is the federally funded program that provides low-income families monthly food assistance benefits. It will be unfunded as of Nov. 1.
The majority of those to be impacted? According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, women comprise around 55 percent of non-elderly adults receiving SNAP; single mothers lead nearly two-thirds of SNAP households with children. About 40 percent of the total number of recipients are children under age 18, and 11 percent are under the age of 5.
As we careen toward one full month of the federal government in shutdown, President Donald Trump has confirmed the administration will not leverage $5 billion in available contingency funds to cover SNAP during the month of November (or beyond, heaven forbid).
To underscore the point, earlier this week the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) posted the following to the top of its homepage: “Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued Nov. 1.”
Fully parroting hyper-partisan talking points, the USDA went a step further in the blame game: “We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.”
Government shutdown notwithstanding, SNAP benefits, especially for women and children, have been further strained by changes baked into the Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed and signed into law this summer—from new work requirements to reduced access to school nutrition programs and other eligibility limits.
Another core nutrition program, Women, Infants and Children (WIC), which serves six million pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and their children under the age of 5, also might be on the brink of a funding shortfall. Though the administration did provide $300 million at the start of the shutdown, there is no indication that the WIC program will be further supported by the federal government when that funding runs out.
In more normal times of crisis, a safety net of food banks and other community resources fill the gap—but these programs are now stretched to capacity because of the double whammy of funding cuts and the impact of the government shutdown on 1.4 million unpaid federal employees. (Mind you, this number covers those furloughed or not being paid to go to work; there is an entire additional cohort who were forced into retirement earlier this year whose pensions have not been processed.)
All told, it is a power play that is cruel beyond words. And as ever, that cruelty is surely the point. It cannot be repeated enough: This is not how a healthy democracy functions.
For the here and now, here are some tips and resources for how to help families in need in your own community:
- To find a local food bank, enter a ZIP code on Feeding America.
- Plug into hubs like schools, religious entities, even local grocery stores and farmers markets to organize and donate to fill the gaps.
- Got trick-or-treaters coming through your neighborhood? Have healthy, non-perishable meal options to give out to parents and caregivers (canned vegetables, microwave pastas, etc.) in addition to loot for the kids.
- Though SNAP is federally funded, it is administered by states, meaning some might have a slightly longer lifeline ahead depending when and how benefits are generally distributed (e.g., in incremental or alphabetical order). Several states have said they’ll commit to keeping WIC funded. Stay up to speed on what is happening in your state so you can step up at the moment support is most needed.
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I also want to share a quick update to last week’s column on the toothless IVF announcement issued by the Trump administration. It turns out it was intentionally weak—just as we surmised—to pander to myriad audiences.
“The White House’s decision to stop short of an IVF mandate or taxpayer-funded program highlights the power that social conservatives and anti-abortion advocates still wield within the administration—even as their agenda has at times clashed with the secular flank of the GOP’s natalist wing that wants more government intervention to help families have children.”
According to Students for Life of America, “There were letters and meetings and calls—a lot of activity.” And from another antiabortion advocate: “That the new policies won’t have that much of an effect is actually a win, a sign that the pro-life movement still has some real juice.”
Real juice? Just not the kind millions of moms will be able to afford to buy in real time. Pro-life indeed.
