Across the nation, millions may face a halt in their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits due to a government shutdown sparked by a standoff between the Trump administration and Democratic leaders.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Friday that it will not tap into SNAP’s contingency funds, which Congress has set aside for emergencies, if the shutdown continues past the end of this week.

This decision has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats, who argue it is a strategic move to intensify pressure to resolve the shutdown.

Here are five key insights into this developing situation.

42 million Americans set to lose support

In fiscal year 2024, SNAP supported approximately 41.7 million Americans on average each month, as reported by the USDA. The program’s annual expenditure was $99.8 billion, averaging $187.20 monthly per participant.

SNAP benefits are funded by the federal government, while states operate and share the cost of administering the program and distributing its benefits. Because funding is sent to states monthly, October benefits were not impacted — but November payments could be at risk.

Democrats urge USDA to tap reserves

The USDA argues the contingency fund was designed to respond to unforeseen events, like natural disasters, and the current shutdown doesn’t qualify because it was manufactured by Democrats, according to a memo. To spend the money on SNAP benefits now, the USDA says, would be illegal. 

The memo contradicts the since-deleted shutdown plan prepared by the USDA earlier in the year, which said the department is legally obligated to pay SNAP benefits in the event of a shutdown. 

“It is a disgusting dereliction of duty that the Trump administration would knowingly rip food out of the mouths of 42 million children, seniors and veterans,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a statement criticizing the decision not to tap the reserve. 

Reps. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, and Angie Craig (Minn.), the ranking member of the Agriculture Committee, said the policy is not only a violation of the law, but a “cruel” attack on poor Americans.

“This is perhaps the most cruel and unlawful offense the Trump administration has perpetrated yet — freezing funding already enacted into law to feed hungry Americans while he shovels tens of billions of dollars out the door to Argentina and into his ballroom,” they wrote in a statement.

GOP seeks to pin blame on Democrats

Republicans have increasingly sought to highlight the imminent shortfall facing SNAP benefits in an effort to pressure Democrats to end the shutdown. They say Democrats, by opposing the GOP’s stopgap spending bill, are threatening harm to some of the nation’s poorest people. 

“Forty-two million people across America are going to suffer from [not getting] those SNAP benefits that they count on right before Thanksgiving, because Chuck Schumer and Democrats are so angry with President Trump that they just want to find a way to say no,” Rep. Steve Scalise (La.), the House Republican whip, told reporters last week.

“This is having real impacts on real families,” he added.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) accused Democrats of standing in the way of getting SNAP benefits to those most in need, telling reporters Thursday, “We have lots of SNAP recipients in our state, as we do in many others.”

“You’re talking about — I think it’s 42 [million] or 43 million Americans rely upon that vital service — and it’s unconscionable that they would be held at bay and held as leverage on this,” he said.

Bill to fund snap introduced in House

If SNAP benefits run out during the shutdown, it is entirely possible lawmakers in both parties will find themselves being blamed. Both Democratic and Republican households, after all, are among those receiving the benefits.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) on Friday introduced the Keep SNAP Funded Act of 2025, which would keep the food aid program funded during the government lapse until the USDA is funded through regular appropriations or stopgap measures.

The bill is the companion to a SNAP funding bill in the Senate being led by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), which Senate Republicans are reportedly considering for a floor vote. Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) is a co-sponsor of the House bill.

“More than 262,000 Iowans, including over 100,000 children rely on SNAP to put food on the table. They cannot afford to be ‘leverage’ in the Democrats’ political games. That’s why I’m introducing legislation to ensure SNAP remains funded throughout the shutdown. Access to food is not negotiable,” Miller-Meeks said in a statement.

States scramble to fill gap

States across the country, including Texas, Oklahoma, California and New York, are being hit by the coming crisis.

Officials in New York posted warnings that SNAP benefits would be paused in November even before the USDA memo became public.

Some states, such as Virginia, have announced they will tap state funds to cover the shortfall, at least temporarily. But the USDA has stipulated it won’t reimburse those costs, and many states simply lack the funds to make that investment on their own.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers (D) warned that food assistance for 700,000 people would run out in November. He urged the Trump administration to “use every legal administrative option available” to ensure access to the program benefits.

On Thursday, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) said SNAP recipients “may run out of funds” by the start of November, saying he is in discussion with other governors and “making it a top priority that seniors, individuals with disabilities, and children who rely on food stamps do not go hungry in Louisiana.”

Louisiana has the third-highest share of residents receiving benefits, at 18.4 percent, behind only New Mexico and Washington, D.C., according to the USDA.

States have encouraged SNAP recipients to check with local food banks for support in lieu of benefits.