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On Saturday, the program that helps feed some 42 million Americans is set to run out of money. President Donald Trump’s administration says there’s no funding to continue the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps. The news comes amid rising food prices and reports from food banks that they are already struggling to meet increased demand. More than two dozen states filed suit Tuesday against the federal government, saying the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which runs SNAP, is suspending benefits despite having some resources available to help. Earlier this month, the USDA confirmed that $5 billion in contingency funds will not be tapped, and that benefits will be suspended from Nov. 1 until the shutdown ends. In 2024, each person on SNAP received about $187 per month in benefits. Without that, people across America will have to find a way to obtain groceries and basic necessities. Almost two-thirds of them are in families with children, and more than 1 in 3 are in families with members who are older adults or are disabled, according to the progressive Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Experts say that rural Americans, many in areas that voted for Mr. Trump, will be hit the hardest first. In a guest essay published Tuesday in The New York Times, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a Republican, called on Congress to pass his bill that would keep SNAP benefits flowing during the shutdown. He called their expected cutoff on Saturday a “grim milestone.” In previous administrations, SNAP had always been seen as a bipartisan priority. “There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Pretty quickly, as early as late next week, we’re going to start seeing evidence of real distress out there,” says Christopher Bosso, a professor of public policy and political science at Northeastern University. “We’ve never cut off SNAP benefits in 60 years of the program. This is the first time in history that we’re going to basically shut off food support and supplemental assistance to low-income Americans who need it. That says a lot,” he adds. Who gets SNAP? Why is it going away? One in every 8 Americans, or about 42 million people on average, receive SNAP benefits each month through an electronic benefit transfer card to buy groceries, according to the USDA. SNAP is a means-tested program, so it’s only available to low-income households that make below a certain income and meet other eligibility criteria. Per USDA data, in fiscal year 2024, federal SNAP spending totaled $99.8 billion, with about $8 billion spent per month on the program. The government is mandated to fund SNAP every year, but Congress has to authorize the amount. Congress did not approve a budget or temporary funding bill before the federal fiscal year began Oct. 1, which prompted many federal agencies to halt their operations. The shutdown is now the second-longest in history. On Tuesday, the Senate attempted – and failed for the 13th time – to pass a stopgap funding measure that would keep the government running through Nov. 21 at existing funding levels. The measure had cleared the House in September. The USDA blames Democrats for failing to reach an agreement to pass a funding bill. “Bottom line, the well has run dry,” reads a notice on the USDA website. “We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats.” Democrats in the Senate have said they would not vote to resume federal funding until Republicans come to the negotiating table on a bipartisan compromise on soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act tax credits. Congressional Democrats are calling on the USDA to keep the program afloat, arguing that the federal government is legally obligated to use the $5 billion in contingency funds, which the Trump administration says it is holding in reserve for potential emergencies, such as natural disasters. The fund would only cover 60% of one month of SNAP benefits. The shutdown is not the first hurdle the program has faced this year. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut $186 billion from SNAP over the next decade, tightened work-eligibility rules, and required states to shoulder more program costs. Which locations will be most affected? New Mexico is the state with the largest proportion of its population using SNAP – more than 1 in 5 residents – followed by Louisiana and Oregon. The states with the most SNAP recipients are California (about 5.4 million people), Texas (nearly 3.2 million), and Florida (almost 3 million), according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. While SNAP is administered at the state level with federal funding, the impact of SNAP cuts will depend on how affluent a state is, and could even exacerbate “pockets of poverty in rural America,” says Dr. Bosso. One in 7 rural households rely on SNAP, according to the Food Research and Action Center, a Washington-based advocacy organization. In many rural towns, the local grocery store is the sole food retailer and depends on SNAP transactions to remain financially viable. “[SNAP] is a direct subsidy to the food system. Those 42 million Americans spend between $8 to $10 billion in grocery stores, bodegas, and in convenience stores,” says Dr. Bosso, author of “Why SNAP Works: A Political History – and Defense – of the Food Stamp Program.” “That’s a real hit to the retail food system.” While suburban and metropolitan areas have greater access to food networks like food banks and pantries, experts warn that disruptions could strain food banks and rattle supply chains. Increased demand and reduced federal funding are already stretching the food system thin, says Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, an applied health services researcher at Boston University. “For every one meal that the charitable food system provides, SNAP provides nine,” she says. Cutting benefits for struggling families limits their ability to address other bills like housing, utilities, and health care, she says. “These are families that are already on the edge, and now, we’re gonna tip them over.” What happens next? The lawsuit filed Tuesday includes officials in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia. They argue that the federal government has a legal obligation to maintain food stamps. The Trump administration says it tapped revenue from tariffs to continue providing benefits during the shutdown for another federal initiative, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC. But the government did not pursue the same strategy with food stamps. In many conservative states and districts – including some that voted heavily for President Trump – as many as 25% of households rely on food assistance. That reality makes the issue politically sensitive, even among lawmakers wary of federal spending. “There is no reason any of these residents of my state – or any other American who qualifies for food assistance – should go hungry,” Senator Hawley of Missouri wrote in his essay. “We can afford to provide the help.” In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, is sending the all-volunteer State Guard to assist food pantries. That state and others – both red and blue – are gearing up to offer additional support to low-income families, through millions of dollars of funding to food banks and additional measures. The lack of SNAP payments for November does not mean the benefits won’t be paid at all. Once the federal government reopens, benefits for November will be paid.
