Shutdown Update: Oh SNAP! Food Benefits Will Run Out Next Week

Grocery benefits for the poor are the next victim of the federal shutdown. A major federal food program for low-income Americans is set ot expire next week on November 1st. 

States that depend on federal funds are now alerting recipients that their benefits will soon be cut off. The news is spreading across social media.

Conservatives did not create this problem, but they are looking for ways to solve it. While the Left holds out for healthcare subsidies for the wealthy, we hope President Trump and Republicans in Congress can find a way to ensure more Americans don’t go hungry, especially as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday season.

What’s Happening?

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest anti-hunger initiative in the U.S., is set to run out of funding. Reportedly, half of the states plan to cut off benefits and are alerting beneficiaries that benefits will either be disrupted or not issued at all. Those states include California, Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, and Minnesota.

“You’re talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families — of hungry families—that are not going to have access to these programs because of this shutdown,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

What’s the Solution?

Funding for SNAP and other feeding programs has run out because a temporary funding bill has not been passed by Congress. Democrats in the U.S. Senate have failed 12 times to join Republicans in passing the clean continuing resolution (or spending bill) passed by Republicans in the House.

President Trump and his administration have been creative in finding funds to keep programs serving the poor, such as the WIC program for poor pregnant women and children, operating. The Department of War has also moved research funding around to continue to pay military members. However, SNAP serves seven times more Americans than WIC at a cost of $100 billion annually.

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has introduced a bill that would fund SNAP benefits for the duration of the shutdown. This is one solution that could be voted on along with other spending bills to address specific issues, such as paying federal workers who are required to work through the shutdown and active-duty members of the military. 

The issue is that Democrats have refused to pass the clean CR to reopen the government and fund all of these programs, and they have rejected targeted bills as well.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is casting blame and digging in to their position, telling CNN in response to SNAP funds running out, “No, it should change Republican calculus. They should sit down and negotiate a way to address this crisis. They caused it, they’re the ones maintaining it.” Again, that’s false. Even a couple of Democratic senators have joined with Republicans to pass the clean CR, but more than just two or three Democrats are needed. House Democrats opposed the clean CR when it was voted on.

SNAP Overview

SNAP serves 42 million people, or 12.3% of U.S. residents. The average SNAP household received a monthly benefit of $332 or $177 per person. Households with children received an average monthly benefit of $574 because their household sizes were larger on average. SNAP funds are used for food and groceries are distributed through an Electronic Benefits Transfer — or EBT — card each month. Household income determines the amount that is received. To be eligible, recipients should demonstrate they are low-income.

Here are some characteristics of SNAP’s beneficiaries: 

• About 39% of SNAP participants were children, 20% were elderly, and 10% were nonelderly individuals with a disability.
• 73% percent had a gross monthly income at or below 100% of the poverty level.
• Over four in five (79%) SNAP households included a child, an elderly individual, or a nonelderly disabled person, and received 83% of all SNAP benefits.

The SNAP program is critically in need of reform. Like many other welfare programs, SNAP is too big. It has expanded dramatically through gimmicks and tactics that circumvent eligibility. As I testified earlier this year during a U.S. House committee hearing, “SNAP grants categorical eligibility to TANF enrollees, exempting them from the program’s income and asset limits.” Most able-bodied adults on SNAP do not work either. 

Thankfully, the tax cuts bill (One Big Beautiful Bill Act), passed this summer by conservatives and signed into law by President Trump, implemented needed reforms to SNAP, including pushing able-bodied Americans back to work.

For those who truly qualify for food benefits and need them, SNAP should be available. Families facing hardships will face new ones if SNAP runs out. 

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we hope Democrats will abandon their obstinacy and join Republicans to reopen the government.