USDA Says ‘The Well Has Run Dry’ For SNAP Benefits In November: ‘We Are Approaching An Inflection Point…’
U.S. families relying on federal food aid could miss November benefits as the government shutdown drags on, the Agriculture Department warned in a notice posted this week.
USDA Message On November SNAP Benefits
The message on USDA’s website said the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will not issue payments on Nov. 1 after the administration opted not to draw on contingency funds, raising pressure on negotiators to strike a deal.
“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the notice read. “At this time, there will be no benefits issued on November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats.”
Partisan Standoff Hardens Over Reopening Government
The administration’s decision follows earlier steps that kept October benefits flowing despite the funding lapse that began Oct. 1. The cutoff, if it occurs, would widen the shutdown’s impact to one in eight Americans who use SNAP to help purchase groceries, making an already lengthy stalemate the second-longest on record.
The fight over reopening the government has hardened along familiar lines. Democrats say they will not supply the votes to end the shutdown without an agreement to extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. Republicans insist the government must reopen before those talks proceed.
“There is an urgent need to reopen the government, which is why we continue to demand that Republicans sit at the negotiating table so we can enact a spending agreement that’s bipartisan in nature,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
States Brace For Gaps, Warn Of Disruptions
Even as Democrats urged Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to tap contingency funds, an internal USDA memo that surfaced on Friday and was reported by Axios said those dollars “are not legally available to cover regular benefits,” noting they are reserved for disaster responses. The memo also warned that states would not be reimbursed if they temporarily covered SNAP with their own money.
Some states have explored ways to bridge a potential gap, but they face legal and logistical hurdles and are warning residents to prepare for interruptions. According to a separate Reuters report published on Saturday, state agencies have begun advising recipients to identify food pantries and other resources if November payments do not arrive.
Read Next:
Photo Courtesy: Jonathan Weiss on Shutterstock.com