Food Benefits Scheduled to End for 41 Million Amid Ongoing Federal Shutdown
USDA officials declared this past weekend that nutrition assistance payments through a critical national social assistance programs won't be issued during the coming month amid the persistent federal closure.
Closure Continues For Nearly Four Weeks
The federal closure had reached its 25th day when the announcement was made, coming after appeals by more than two hundred Democratic representatives asking the department to access reserve accounts to fund the upcoming nutrition payments.
“Bottom line, resources are exhausted,” officials announced. “At this time, assistance will not be provided” starting next month.
National Consequences
Tens of millions of people count on these monthly payments, as reported by the USDA. In certain states, such as one southwestern state, reliance on SNAP is as high as a significant portion of citizens.
Internal communications seen by a major news agency showed that federal authorities chose not to tap contingency funding for the upcoming payments.
Political Stalemate
Republicans and Democrats remain deadlocked regarding how to finance and restart federal agencies.
Comments by the leader of a budget research center suggested that the administration could have acted to take earlier action to avoid interruption in payments.
“It could have, and should have acted earlier to make arrangements to access these resources,” the comments added. “Conversely, they might decide against it for potential political benefit” as conservative leaders work to push upper chamber Democrats to approve legislation that would reopen the federal government.
States Prepare
State leaders from multiple regions declared states of emergency in recent days to make money available to address food insecurity in anticipation of food benefits expiring during the upcoming period.
