SNAP Payments Scheduled to End for 41 Million During Ongoing US Government Shutdown
USDA officials announced on Saturday that nutrition assistance payments from a major federal welfare initiatives will not be distributed during the coming month because of the continuing federal closure.
Impasse Persists Through Its Third Week
The federal closure lasted three and a half weeks as officials revealed the news, which followed demands from hundreds of Congressional Democrats pushing the USDA to tap into emergency reserves to cover November's food assistance.
“Bottom line, resources are exhausted,” officials announced. “Now, there will be no benefits issued” starting next month.
National Consequences
More than 41 million individuals depend on these food benefits, according to the USDA. Some regions, such as New Mexico, dependence on SNAP is as high as 21% of residents.
Internal communications seen by Reuters showed that federal authorities decided against using reserve funds to cover next month's assistance.
Partisan Impasse
Lawmakers from both parties continue to disagree regarding how to finance and restart the federal government.
Remarks from the head of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities suggested that federal leadership could have acted to take earlier action to ensure continuous assistance.
“It could have, and should have made moves earlier to be prepared to use these funds,” the remarks concluded. “Instead, officials could opt out for potential political benefit” as conservative leaders work to influence Democratic senators to support legislation to restart federal functions.
Emergency Measures
State leaders from multiple regions declared states of emergency recently to make money available to address food insecurity in anticipation of SNAP benefits not being issued during the upcoming period.
