The government shutdown could hit nutrition assistance programs for pregnant women and new parents, like WIC. Nell Menefee-Libey, senior public policy manager at the National WIC Association, joined CBS News to discuss.

Washington

The ongoing government shutdown is affecting the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which provides food support, nutrition education, and other services to nearly 6.7 million mothers, infants, and young children. While current federal funds allow WIC to continue operating for a limited period, experts warn that disruptions could occur within one to two weeks if the shutdown persists.

State agencies are relying on remaining funds from the previous fiscal year, but these resources are limited, especially as WIC participation has recently increased. Some states may be able to temporarily support the program with their own funds, but not all have the capacity to do so. If federal support runs out, families may face difficult choices in providing for their children.

Government shutdown's impact on WIC

There's also some human impacts to talk about here. We're thinking about women who depend on government help to feed their children. At this moment in time, they cannot apply for that help, and lawmakers are at an impasse. Chances are you've heard about a program called WIC. It's a nonprofit that represents 12,000 agencies that provide food support for nearly 6.9 million mothers and their children. So let's talk about that with senior public policy manager Nell Menefee-Lybie. Nell, thank you so much for being with us here. This has to be painful for families out there. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This is a real challenge for families. Nationally, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, provides nearly 6.7 million moms, infants, and young kids with healthy foods, with nutrition education, with breastfeeding support, and with referrals for other services that they may need to thrive during this really vulnerable time. Yeah, I've actually had family members who have depended on the good graces of WIC. I would imagine that millions of people out there know somebody who also has depended on it. So in the light of these headlines, if I'm a mother wanting to get my children the food that they need or some of the help or the training that's needed, is there a workaround? What's the fallback for families? Yeah, I'm so glad you asked. We are not anticipating an immediate disruption in benefits or services. So families enrolled in the program can keep using their WIC benefits, and new families can also certify on the program, but that's only going to be true for a very limited time. There is a little bit of federal money still available to support continued program operations. We know that the folks at the Department of Agriculture are doing everything that they can to shore up WIC in states in the short term, but we anticipate that only is going to get us one to two weeks of normal program operations before we'll start to see disruptions. All right. So if this stretches on for weeks or months, we know that in the first Trump presidency, it went on for a long time. What are your concerns and your worries for mothers and children? Yeah, this shutdown is even more challenging because it comes at the beginning of a fiscal year, which means that there are no resources on hand for fiscal year 26. State WIC agencies are really only using what they had left over at the end of fiscal year 25, which is a year when we saw WIC participation growing. That's good news. It means that more families were accessing the benefits that they're eligible for, but it also means that there's just not very much money left over. And we are really concerned that after those federal dollars run out in two weeks or so, some states will have the ability to shore up the program with state dollars, but not everyone will be able to do that. Some states may not be constitutionally able or may be facing their own fiscal crises. And then we could see a situation where families would have to make impossible choices about how to feed their little ones. Yeah. I remember the days of infant formula. It is not cheap. Can for can. Nell, great to talk to you. Thank you so much for adding your voice to the conversation. It's so important that we talk about the impacts to the most vulnerable.

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