The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, provides nearly 42 million low- and no-income Americans with federal money to buy groceries.
As the government shutdown dragged into its second month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture wrote on its website that “the well has run dry” and no benefits would be issued on Nov. 1. This is the first time SNAP funding has come to a halt since the program began in 1964.
The Trump administration announced on Nov. 3 through a court filing, however, that it would allocate money to send out partial payments to SNAP participants, covering "50% of eligible households’ current allotments." Two federal judges ruled the Department of Agriculture must cover food stamps during the government shutdown.
Over two dozen states filed a lawsuit against the USDA in an attempt to force the Trump administration to fund SNAP benefits amid the shutdown.
Some states, such as Louisiana, New Mexico, Vermont and Rhode Island, have taken state-funded approaches to partially or fully cover SNAP benefits temporarily.
