WASHINGTON ― Food benefits for millions have become a top flashpoint in the government shutdown that shows no end in sight.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is adamant that it can’t pay next month’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits unless Congress approves legislation to fund agency operations.
“Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01,” says a prominent message on the agency’s website.
The USDA said in a Friday memo it couldn’t use contingency funds or money from other sources to cover all or part of the roughly $8 billion needed for November’s SNAP allotment. The position seemed to contradict a September contingency plan, since deleted from the USDA’s website, that said Congress intended “that SNAP’s operations should continue” and that contingency funds “are also available to fund participant benefits in the event that a lapse occurs in the middle of the fiscal year.”
Democrats say any missing benefits will be the Trump administration’s fault, not theirs. Except for certain essential functions, federal agencies shut down earlier this month after most Senate Democrats voted against a “continuing resolution” that would have funded operations into mid-November.
