Roughly 42 million people are at risk of losing critical food assistance in November due to the federal government shutdown. And it’s not clear whether the Trump administration will step in to find the funds to continue paying benefits, as it has with other priorities.
The food stamp program will run out of money in two weeks, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters at the White House on Thursday.
“So you’re talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families, of hungry families that are not going to have access to these programs because of this shutdown,” she said.
Like other members of the Trump administration, Rollins cast blame on Democrats, posting on X Thursday that they are putting “their political agenda ahead of food security for American families.”
Democrats have argued Republicans are at fault for being unwilling to negotiate a spending deal that includes the extension of expiring enhanced Obamacare premium subsidies.
Rollins’ comments came a week after the US Department of Agriculture told states that there is not enough money to pay full food stamp benefits in November if the lapse in federal funding continues. The agency asked states to hold off on November payments until further notice.
The big picture: About one in eight Americans receive help buying food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the formal name for food stamps. A key pillar of the nation’s safety net, the program provides enrollees with an average monthly benefit of $188 per person, as of May.