Despite court orders stating the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program must be immediately funded, President Donald Trump said Nov. 4 he would withhold funds until the federal government shutdown ends.
SNAP is a critical food assistance program, supporting 42 million low-income people in the US, including 16 million children, 8 million older adults, and 4 million people with disabilities. More than 1.2 million veterans also use SNAP benefits.
The Administration has repeatedly claimed — falsely — that SNAP benefits are used by undocumented immigrants. The “One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” which was voted into law earlier this year, cuts $187 billion from the SNAP budget over the next decade.
The White House had not issued a statement on the matter, as of Nov. 4 mid-morning. But, in an early morning post on the Truth Social platform, Trump stated that the SNAP program had been overfunded by the previous administration. “They were haphazardly handed to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP,” wrote the President.
Courts Rule SNAP Must Be Funded
Funds for several federal programs were halted as the government shutdown began Oct. 1. SNAP funding had already been distributed for October as the shutdown began. But benefits were not distributed Nov. 1, even as two federal court judges ruled a day earlier that a $5.5 billion contingency fund must be deployed to provide at least partial benefits for the month. 25 states, including California, have sued the federal government to use contingency funds: they have stated they cannot backfill the federal government’s cuts to SNAP.
Judge John McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, ruled that full benefits must be delivered Nov. 3, or partial benefits could be made on Nov. 5, using the contingency reserve funds. Full funding of the program — which provides an average of $187 per month to individuals — costs roughly $8 billion per month.
The USDA, which oversees the program, issued a response Nov. 3, stating that the “emergency” funds were not meant to be deployed in this manner, and furthermore, could not be distributed speedily.
‘Politics Over People’
At an American Community Media/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation news briefing Oct. 31 — which was held as Judge McConnell and Massachusetts District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued their rulings — experts discussed the impacts of losing SNAP benefits this month, as well as the longer term impacts of a greatly-reduced budget for the program.
“SNAP is our nation’s largest anti-hunger program dating back to the Great Depression, and it has never been disrupted this way,” said Jamie Bussell, Senior Program Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
“This crisis that we’re talking about today is not happening because Congress doesn’t have the money, but because our policymakers are choosing to prioritize politics over people instead of feeding people. And it’s our families, our children, our seniors, our grandparents, our veterans that are caught in this political gridlock,” she said.
Food Banks Cannot Fill Gap
Bussel added that food banks cannot fill in for the shortfall. For every meal a food bank is able to provide, the SNAP program provides nine.
She urged people to support families in need, by being a “grocery buddy,” supporting a food bank, or a farm harvest share. “We have really crossed the point of absurdity. We’re better than this. Children, families, and communities across the nation are counting on our policymakers. They need to deliver on their promises and truly be accountable to the individuals and families that they serve.”
“No one in this country should ever go hungry. Every family should be able to comfortably afford and access the food that they need to thrive. Access to healthy, affordable food should be a fundamental basic human right,” said Bussel.
Impact to Children
One out of 5 children in the US use the SNAP program. If a family qualifies for SNAP, children immediately qualify for free school lunches and summer nutrition programs. Gina Plata Nino, interim director for SNAP at the Food Research & Action Center, said children are unable to take care of themselves and rely on parents, who are often working two or more jobs to put food on the table.
“Parents are asking themselves right now: ‘Do I pay rent or do I pay for food? Do I pay for child care or do I pay for food? Do I utilize my credit card if I still have any credit cards left? Because people have been utilizing their credit cards just to pay basic needs.’”
“So this just adds to a terrible time, particularly where food costs three times more than it did this time last year. It changes the ecosystem for children, who are asking, ‘Mommy, why are you crying? Daddy, how come you’re not eating enough? How come we don’t have apples those weeks?’”
Plata-Nino noted that parents cannot make their children understand: “The government thinks I am a political chess piece and it’s not prioritizing me.”
ICE Raids at Food Banks
Eric Valladares, executive director of Family Connections, which provides early childhood education, family education, and mental health services to immigrant families in San Mateo County, California, said at the briefing that the clients his organization serves are currently struggling with several crises, including food insecurity.
Families are staying away from food banks and pantries because of fears of immigration raids, said Valladares. Family Connections volunteers have stepped in and gone to pantries to collect food for client families, he added.
Fear of invoking the public charge rule — which could deny a visa or green card to people deemed to de dependent on the US government for their well-being — has kept many families from availing of benefits to which they are entitled, noted Valladares. There are also concerns about personal information being shared with immigration authorities, a well-founded concern as the Health and Human Services Department has mandated states to find undocumented immigrants enrolled in Medicaid.
‘Heartbreaking’
“What we’re navigating right now and what we’re seeing from our families, it’s really undermining family stability. It’s undermining children’s healthy development and the long-term well-being of our community,” said Valladares. He added that Family Connections is bolstering case management and home visiting services to provide one-on-one support to families in crisis.
“It shouldn’t be this hard for our families. Our families deserve better. It’s heartbreaking. It’s infuriating. As a child of immigrants, it’s personal to me,” he said.
Long-Term SNAP Budget Cuts
Joseph Llobrera, Senior Director of Research and Food Assistance at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, discussed the impact of $187 billion being cut out of SNAP’s budget over the next decade. The 20% cut is the largest ever in the history of the program, which was created in 1964, during the late President Lyndon Johnson’s administration.
CBPP estimates that nationally, about 4 million people, including 1 million children, will lose all or a substantial amount of food assistance as the budget cuts take full effect in the next few years. Llobrera explained that the new law slashes federal funding for states’ SNAP programs, forcing unaffordable costs on them. This will result in deep cuts or even some states ending SNAP entirely, he said.
“States would be faced with large and volatile costs and will struggle to absorb these new costs. Most states will face costs between 5% to 15% of total benefit costs. Just to give you a sense of how large those are, for California, a 5% match amounts to $600 million a year. At a 15% match, that would amount to $1.8 billion a year,” said Llobrera.
New Work Requirements
Beginning in 2026, the SNAP program will impose new work requirements on recipients. More than 55% of people currently receiving SNAP do work, but are underpaid. “The new law puts millions more at risk of losing benefits. Parents and caregivers with older children in the household and older adults aged 55 to 64 have to meet this work requirement,” said Llobrera.
Veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and those who have aged out of foster care — who were previously exempt from work requirements — will now have to show proof of employment in order to avail of SNAP, as well as Medicaid.
“In California alone, we estimate that hundreds of thousands of people will be at risk of losing some amount of SNAP due to the expansion of work requirements,” said Llobrera.
Lawful Immigrants Denied Food Aid
The new law also denies food assistance to many people who are immigrants living lawfully in the United States who have been granted humanitarian protections by the US government, said Llobrera, explaining this would impact refugees, people granted asylum, certain survivors of domestic violence, and certain victims of sex or labor trafficking. He reiterated that undocumented immigrants have never been eligible for SNAP.
“At a time when families should be coming together around the table this November, the Trump administration is choosing to take food off of the table. Families should not go hungry because of that choice,” said Llobrera. “I’m hoping with the court rulings that the USDA will move quickly to minimize the disruption that families will experience,” he said.
