States are resorting to last-ditch efforts to preserve access to groceries for their residents as the federal government was ready up until its Oct. 31 deadline to stop sending out food benefits while the government shutdown drags on.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it would not be delivering Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits beginning Saturday, with the Trump administration refusing to draw on a contingency fund. But two court rulings reversed that course.
Two federal judges on Friday ordered the White House to use the emergency fund to keep SNAP operating.
President Trump hours later signaled the USDA would release the contingency funding.
Late on Friday, Trump said on Truth Social it would be his “HONOR” to fund SNAP “if we are given the appropriate legal direction.” He maintained, however, that “Our Government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available.”
One out of 8 people in the U.S., or nearly 42 million people, receive SNAP benefits every month. Congressional lawmakers sought to pass legislation ensuring continued funds, but the effort failed to rally enough support behind it.
With time having run out and an intervention from the White House uncertain, many states have rushed to ensure continuity in the interim.
Here’s some contingency plans and realities states are grappling with as SNAP benefits were set to expire Saturday:
States of emergency
States and territories including California, the District of Columbia, Louisiana, New York and West Virginia have deployed emergency funds to food banks and SNAP beneficiaries ahead of the anticipated halt in benefits.
“Unlike Washington Republicans, I won’t sit idly by as families struggle to put food on the table. Today, I’m declaring a state of emergency and am committing additional state funds for emergency food assistance to ensure New Yorkers don’t go hungry. Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have the power to stop this crisis — millions of families depend on it,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said in a statement Thursday.
States are limited in their ability to stave off a massive impact. Hochul’s office reiterated that no state can replace federal SNAP benefits. In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced $30 million would be released to provide assistance to SNAP beneficiaries, but this only gets them through until Nov. 10.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) also declared a state of emergency last week to last through Nov. 4, but he leaned on GOP rhetoric that safety net programs should be more limited.
“I urge those who are able-bodied to continue to strive to get off SNAP and similar programs. Due to the Democrats’ political games these programs are not reliable,” Landry said.
“I encourage our citizens to seek the thousands of new job opportunities across our State, and free themselves from these social programs that the Left uses as a weaponization tool to win political points.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) deployed the California National Guard to support food banks and fast-forwarded $80 million in state support. California was one of more than 20 states to sue the Trump administration over its decision to not fund SNAP during the shutdown.
Community-driven efforts
Food banks across the country have been preparing for an influx of people, with many already seeing increased traffic ahead of the November deadline. Governors were directing funds straight to food banks ahead of the anticipated lapse.
“We’ve given away about almost 5,000 pounds of food in two days,” Craig Gordy with the Oskaloosa Food Pantry in southeast Iowa told Brownfield Ag News. “Normally, we give about 300 or 400 pounds. People are stocking up because they know the SNAP is not coming.”
Seattle planned to send up to $4 million per month to food banks until SNAP benefits are restored.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins suggested earlier in October that billionaire George Soros fund SNAP through November. It was announced Friday that billionaire Mark Cuban had, in fact, made a donation to fund Pennsylvania’s food assistance.
According to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), Cuban had joined with a group of business individuals and lawmakers to make the donation.
“Each of these individuals have stepped up in the initial hours of our campaign to help feed Pennsylvanians on top of the private or public dollars that we are releasing,” Shapiro said.
Major businesses have also gotten involved, with food delivery service DoorDash announcing this past week it would be waiving merchant fees for food banks as well as service and delivery fees for 300,000 grocery orders for SNAP.
States with plans in limbo
A few states had yet to finalize plans for continued food assistance as of Friday, before Trump weighed in.
Last week, Oklahoma Human Services (OHS) confirmed that SNAP benefits would be suspended in the state as of Nov. 1. The OHS encouraged SNAP-dependent households to lock their EBT cards when not in use, making it clear that electronically stolen funds would not be refunded.
Oklahoma officials said late Friday that a vote would be held Monday to potentially give $1 million per week to Oklahoma’s food banks, as the Oklahoma Voice reported.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) said in a joint statement with the Legislature’s leadership that the money would come from the state’s $7.8 million emergency fund.
Mississippi similarly told its more than 350,000 SNAP beneficiaries that payments would not go out in November if SNAP funds lapsed. As WLBT reported this past week, there do not seem to be plans for the state government to intervene at this point, something Gov. Tate Reeves (R) appeared to acknowledge.
“There is sadly no simple way for state government to just step in and pay the hundreds of millions of dollars in harm that this shutdown by the Washington Democrats is causing,” Reeves said in a statement.
