Name: How a SNAP funding lapse will affect Americans
Uploaded: 2025-10-30T23:37:49.292Z
Duration: 5 min 2 s
Description: More than 42 million Americans across the country who rely on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, will lose the benefit Saturday as the shutdown continues.

More than 42 million Americans across the country who rely on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, will lose the benefit Saturday as the shutdown continues.

Washington

More than 42 million Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are at risk of not receiving their monthly benefits due to an ongoing government shutdown. The lapse in funding disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, many of whom live at or below the poverty line.

Legal actions have been initiated by multiple states and nonprofit organizations, arguing that contingency funds should be used to maintain SNAP benefits. Food banks and local nonprofits warn they are already struggling to meet demand and cannot compensate for the loss of such a large federal program, urging the federal government to restore funding.

How a SNAP funding lapse will affect Americans

This weekend, more than 42 million Americans across the country who rely on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, will not get their monthly benefit as the shutdown continues. And we wanted to take a closer look at who relies on this aid and where the effects of funding running out will be felt the most. So about 12% of U.S. residents pay for groceries using their SNAP benefits each month. That's according to the Agriculture Department. And that breaks down to about 42 million Americans or 22 million households. Of those households, 79% had a member who is a child, elderly, or disabled. And almost three-quarters had a gross monthly income at or below 100% of the poverty level. Every state has at least some percentage of its population receiving SNAP. The highest rates are in states including New Mexico, Oregon, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. In New Mexico, which has the largest percentage of residents receiving SNAP benefits in the U.S., an average of 60,000 people, including 25,000 children, each year between 2015 and 2019, were lifted above the poverty line because of SNAP. Just before the suspension was set to take effect, 25 states and Washington, D.C., sued the Trump administration claiming the pause is unlawful. The state's attorneys general argue there is a $5 billion contingency fund that can be used to continue providing benefits through November. The USDA has said those contingency funds can't be used to cover, quote, regular benefits and should be reserved for people impacted by natural disasters. Let's bring in Diane Yentel. She is the CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits. Thank you for being here with us. Your organization, along with local governments, nonprofits, and businesses filed its own lawsuit today to prevent SNAP benefits from running out Saturday. What's your argument and your message to lawmakers? Sure. Thanks so much for having me. So we filed legislation today because without court intervention on Saturday, 42 million people—these are seniors, children, working families—will no longer have access to vital food assistance to feed their families. And while local nonprofits are literally in the business of stepping up to fill gaps and meet community needs when no one else can or will, nonprofits can't possibly meet the tremendous new need that will be created when 42 million people lose access to basic food security. And it's important to understand that this action by the administration to shut down SNAP food assistance doesn't have to happen. There are adequate contingency funds to pay for the program even during a shutdown, but the administration is refusing to use those funds. So we're urging the court to intervene and require them to. And so my next question for you is going to be, how long can the help last from organizations like yours that fill in the gaps? But what I'm hearing you say is that the help that you guys can provide isn't even enough for those 42 million Americans. No, absolutely. I mean, to be clear, no one, no person, no organization, no state can fill the gap of a multibillion-dollar federal program other than the federal government. That's literally the federal government's job. But certainly nonprofit organizations, food banks, food pantries will do their very best to meet all of the need that they can. But nonprofit organizations, even before these 42 million people need additional food assistance, nonprofits, food banks were struggling to meet already increasing demand. So food banks, food pantries, they've had funding cut. They've had federal contracts cut throughout the year. They have fewer resources. At the same time, demand for their services has increased because grocery prices have increased. So more families are relying on food banks to put food on their tables. And since the government shut down, we've seen furloughed federal workers, members of the military who aren't being paid. They're going to food banks to get assistance. And it's more than most food banks can handle. They're having to turn people away or they're having to ration assistance so that everybody gets something. And now with an additional 42 million people losing federal assistance, these local food banks can't, they'll be pushed past the breaking point. They can't possibly meet this tremendous increased need. So the federal government needs to reverse course and ensure that the SNAP program continues to be funded and those 42 million Americans continue to have healthy food on their tables for their kids and their families. All right, Diane Yentel, thank you for joining us. Thanks so much. We reached out to the U.S. Department of Agriculture about the National Council of Nonprofits lawsuit. A spokesperson said, quote, we are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats continue to hold out for their far left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments.

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