Government Shutdown Will Halt November SNAP Benefits; Here’s What to Know:

By Terri Langford, Gabby Birenbaum and Dan Keemahill, The Texas Tribune

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal food-assistance payments will come to a halt on Saturday, the result of the second-longest government shutdown in U.S. history. It will be the first time the benefit has been interrupted since it began more than six decades ago. 

More than 3.5 million low-income Texans are among the more than 40 million Americans receiving Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) payments each month. With Democrats demanding that Congress address expiring health insurance subsidies — and Republicans refusing to negotiate until the government reopens — the parties have been locked in a stalemate over government funding for close to a month.

The USDA notified states that if the shutdown did not end by Oct. 27, SNAP benefits would be halted on Nov. 1. 

You can click here to search for your local food bank by zip code. You can also call 2-1-1 and press option 1 for information about local food pantries in your area. 

Congress could also address the issue — without ending the shutdown — by passing a standalone bill to fund SNAP. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, has introduced a bill to do so, though Senate Republican leadership has not scheduled a vote on it.

Here is what you need to know about the SNAP pause:

What is SNAP? 

SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the latest incarnation of the federal food assistance program created in 1964 under President Lyndon Johnson. It is commonly referred to as the food stamp program. 

The November SNAP price tag is approximately $8 billion. Out of that amount, $614 million would go to Texas SNAP recipients. 

How does SNAP in Texas work? 

Every state, including Texas, offers SNAP assistance to qualifying residents. Illegal immigrants are not eligible for SNAP assistance.

Applicants provide information about their income and family size, and payments are determined by a household’s income level and the number of people in a household. In Texas, an average of about $400 a month is paid to qualifying individuals. 

About 3.5 million Texans, including 1.7 million children, use SNAP assistance every month. 

SNAP funds are distributed to Texas participants through a debit-like card called a Lone Star card, which they can use to purchase groceries. Unused benefits from one month can be rolled over to the next month. 

Why are SNAP benefits suspended for November? 

The Health and Human Services Commission distributes SNAP in Texas, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is being affected by the federal government shutdown, funds the program. 

The government shut down on Oct. 1 after the Senate voted down two proposals — a Republican-backed plan to fund the government at its current level until Nov. 21, and a Democratic bill to fund the government through Halloween and permanently extend Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of the year. 

Democrats have continued to reject Republicans’ proposal, saying Congress needs to address the tax credit expiration before premiums rise, while Republicans have insisted that they will not negotiate on health policy until the shutdown is ended.

Who is to blame for the SNAP interruption? 

The USDA, led by Secretary Brooke Rollins, has accused Senate Democrats of being responsible for the federal shutdown and the resulting holdup of SNAP funds.

“Because of the Democrat shutdown, there are not enough funds to provide SNAP for 40 million Americans come Nov 1,” Rollins wrote Oct. 16 on X. “Shameful.”

Democrats have countered that the federal government could have used emergency funds to pay out SNAP benefits, though House Speaker Mike Johnson said that tapping into those funds would pull money away from school meals and infant formula.

Can states pay SNAP recipients and then have USDA reimburse them when the shutdown ends? 

No. “Despite their willingness, States cannot cover the cost of benefits and be reimbursed,” the USDA announced last week. Some states, like California, are fast-tracking funding to food banks to offset the shortfall. 

Will Texas government leaders step in and approve some type of assistance? 

It’s hard to know that. Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, which represents the state’s food banks, said her organization is asking lawmakers about state resources available to food banks if the federal shutdown continues long into November. Cole said her organization will work to meet the need but added: “We don’t have all the resources we need if the shutdown continues.” 

We’ve had shutdowns before. Why weren’t SNAP payments halted then? 

During Trump’s first term, the government partially shut down for 35 days over a border wall funding dispute. But the U.S Department of Agriculture used a contingency fund to disperse benefits early. That shutdown ended on Jan. 25, 2019; the Department had enough reserve funds to keep SNAP afloat through the end of February.

What’s the immediate impact on Texans who depend on SNAP? 

According to Cole, the Feeding Texas CEO, once the federal shutdown ends, SNAP recipients would receive any missed payments retroactively. Also, some SNAP participants may have unused October benefits that they can use in November. 

For people with a zero balance, the interruption in SNAP funding could have a significant impact.

“I think people are going to be faced with really difficult decisions, and people will go hungry if the benefits are delayed,” Cole said. 

Can Texans on SNAP rely on food banks in November? 

Yes, but the state’s 20 food banks are already working hard to help the roughly 334,000 federal employees in Texas impacted by the government shutdown and 118,000 military service members and their families. Food banks are nonprofit entities that rely on both private donations and some government funding to provide groceries free of charge. 

This past week, H-E-B announced a $5 million donation ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday to Feeding Texas to help stock food banks and another $1 million to the state’s Meals on Wheels programs that deliver meals to older Texans. But the longer the shutdown lasts, the bigger the impact will be on food banks and other nonprofit groups — especially if the 3.5 million Texans on SNAP go without their benefits.

“This definitely has ripple effects,” said Craig Gundersen, a Baylor University economics professor who has studied SNAP. “I’m really hoping that they will figure something out. I think that this (the delay in SNAP benefits) can be catastrophic.”

Are other federal assistance programs interrupted by the shutdown? 

No. Other programs including WIC, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program are not affected at this time.