No SNAP Benefits to be Issued Nov. 1, USDA Says

By Ryan Hanrahan

CBS News reported that “the U.S. Department of Agriculture has posted a notice on its website saying federal food aid will not go out on Nov. 1, raising the stakes for families nationwide as the government shutdown drags on.”

“The new notice comes after the Trump administration said it would not tap roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as SNAP, flowing into November. That program helps about 1 in 8 Americans buy groceries,” CBS News reported. “‘Bottom line, the well has run dry,’ the USDA notice says. ‘At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats.'”

“The shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, is now the second-longest on record,” CBS News reported. “While the Republican administration took steps leading up to the shutdown to ensure SNAP benefits were paid this month, the cutoff would expand the impact of the impasse to a wider swath of Americans — and some of those most in need — unless a political resolution is found in just a few days.”

“Democratic lawmakers have written to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requesting that she use contingency funds to cover the bulk of next month’s benefits,” CBS News reported. “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 such things as helping people in disaster areas. The memo cited Hurricane 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.”