Trump Administration Announces Suspension of Federal Food Aid Starting November 1

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a critical update on its website, announcing that federal food aid will be suspended starting November 1. This development raises the stakes for families across the nation as the ongoing government shutdown continues to impact essential services.

This announcement follows the Trump administration’s decision not to utilize approximately $5 billion in contingency funds to maintain the distribution of benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into November. SNAP, a vital program, assists roughly one in eight Americans in purchasing groceries.

“In simple terms, our resources have been exhausted,” the USDA stated in their notice. “As it stands, no benefits will be distributed on November 1. We are reaching a critical juncture for Senate Democrats.”

Since the shutdown began on October 1, it has become the second longest in U.S. history. Although the Republican administration previously ensured the issuance of SNAP benefits for October, the looming cutoff threatens to affect a broader segment of the population, including some of the most vulnerable, unless a political agreement is reached in the coming days.

The administration has pointed fingers at Democrats, who have insisted they will not agree to reopen the government until Republicans engage in discussions about extending expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. In contrast, Republicans argue that Democrats must agree to end the shutdown before any negotiations can take place.

Democratic lawmakers have written to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requesting to use contingency funds to cover the bulk of next month’s benefits.

But a USDA memo that surfaced Friday says “contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular benefits.” The document says the money is reserved for things like helping people in disaster areas.

It cited a storm named Melissa, which has strengthened into a major hurricane, as an example of why it’s important to have the money available to mobilize quickly in the event of a disaster.

The prospect of families not receiving food aid has deeply concerned states run by both parties.

Some states have pledged to keep SNAP benefits flowing even if the federal program halts payments, but there are questions about whether U.S. government directives may allow that to happen. The USDA memo also says states would not be reimbursed for temporarily picking up the cost.

Other states are telling SNAP recipients to be ready for the benefits to stop. Arkansas and Oklahoma, for example, are advising recipients to identify food pantries and other groups that help with food.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., accused Republicans and Trump of not agreeing to negotiate.

“The reality is, if they sat down to try to negotiate, we could probably come up with something pretty quickly,” Murphy said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We could open up the government on Tuesday or Wednesday, and there wouldn’t be any crisis in the food stamp program.”