As the federal government shutdown stretches into its third week, states are raising alarms over a looming crisis: the depletion of funds for food assistance programs.

The Texas Health and Human Services Department has issued a stark warning, stating, “SNAP benefits for November won’t be issued if the federal government shutdown continues past October 27.”

Similar alerts have been echoed by officials in several states, including Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. They have all indicated that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is on the brink of exhausting its funds within days.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins underscored the urgency of the situation, stating on Thursday, “We’re going to run out of money in two weeks.”

SNAP, formerly called the Food Stamp Program, helps people living near or below the poverty line afford groceries. The program is funded by federal dollars but administered by state and local agencies. The United States Department of Agriculture started notifying states last week that it was seeking alternative sources of funding, but in the meantime states should pause issuing benefits approved after Oct. 16.

The disruption of funds could impact 42 million people, or 1 in 8 Americans, who rely on SNAP to buy food.

What will happen to November SNAP benefits?

The USDA’s shutdown contingency plan allows the agency to tap into reserve funding to keep SNAP operating if the federal government remains shut for longer than a month. But it would cost about $8 billion to keep benefits flowing for everyone in November, which makes scraping together funds challenging.

The size of the contingency fund is closer to $6 billion, according to CNN.

States could scrape the money together themselves to keep the benefits flowing, but they shouldn’t be expected to be reimbursed, said Peter Hadler, the deputy commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Social Services.

Benefits could also come late or only to some families. The USDA has a plan that would allow it to prioritize November funds to the highest-need recipients, The New York Times reports.

It’s also not clear how serious the USDA is about cutting off benefits, or if the warnings of the past week are to add political pressure on reopening the government. Messages on the USDA website blame the “Radical Left” Democrats for the shutdown, while leaders of states like Pennsylvania and New York are blaming Republicans.

“We’re following up,” Charles Sallee, director of New Mexico’s budget and accountability office, told lawmakers at a hearing Wednesday, “to verify whether food stamps is really out of money or if this is just a tactic that the administration is playing in the overall negotiation.”

“We are in uncharted territory,” Carolyn Vega, associate director of nonprofit Share Our Strength told the Times. She said benefits have kept flowing during the government shutdowns of the past two decades.

The threat to funding comes at a turbulent time for SNAP programs around the country. A deadline to comply with the One Big Beautiful Bill is approaching in November, which is expected to result in the loss of benefits for certain types of SNAP recipients.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.