The US Department of Agriculture says it will not tap into its $6 billion contingency fund to cover food stamp benefits next month, according to an agency memo obtained by CNN. That means that roughly 42 million Americans will not receive critical food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in November, unless the agency shifts its position.
“Contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular benefits,” the memo reads. “SNAP contingency funds are only available to supplement regular monthly benefits when amounts have been appropriated for, but are insufficient to cover, benefits. The contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists.”
Also, states will not be reimbursed if they use their own funds to pay for benefits, according to the memo, which was reported earlier by Axios.
The loss of the critical safety net program ramps up pressure on Congress to end the federal government shutdown, which began on October 1, by agreeing to a federal spending package. Democrats have said they will not support a short-term spending bill unless it includes an extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Republican lawmakers and officials have blamed the Democrats for the impasse, saying they are harming Americans. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins last week told reporters that food stamps will run dry by the end of the month.
The agency told states earlier this month that there is not enough money to pay full food stamp benefits in November if the lapse in federal funding continues and asked them to hold off on next month’s payments until further notice.
However, Democratic lawmakers and SNAP advocates argue that USDA should – or is even obligated to – use the contingency fund to pay November benefits, which are estimated to cost about $8 billion. And they are urging the agency to tap into other pots of money to cover the difference, as the administration has done for its priorities like paying troops.
“Secretary Rollins’ claim that the Trump Administration is unable to deliver November SNAP benefits during a shutdown is unequivocally false,” Sharon Parrott, president of the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and a former Office of Management and Budget official, said in a statement Thursday. “In fact, the Administration is legally required to use contingency reserves — billions of dollars that Congress provided for use when SNAP funding is inadequate that remain available during the shutdown.”
In its shutdown contingency plan, which has been since taken offline, the agency noted that “Congressional intent is evident that SNAP’s operations should continue” and referenced that the contingency plan can be used to fund participant benefits if a lapse occurs in the middle of the fiscal year.
About one in eight Americans receive help buying food through SNAP. A key pillar of the nation’s safety net, the program provides enrollees with an average monthly benefit of $188 per person, as of May.
The food stamp program is the second nutrition assistance lifeline at risk of running out of money amid the ongoing standoff on Capitol Hill.
WIC, which provides food aid to nearly 7 million pregnant women, new moms and young children, was on course to deplete its funding earlier this month. But the Trump administration shifted $300 million in tariff revenue that’s typically used to fund child nutrition programs to keep WIC operating. The infusion should be enough to cover benefits for the rest of the month, according to the National WIC Association.
This is not the first time that food stamps have been at risk during a shutdown. During the record-long impasse that began in December 2018, the USDA initially said benefits would run dry at the end of January. But the agency then said it would use a provision allowing it to make obligated payments within 30 days of a government funding lapse to cover February payments. That workaround ultimately wasn’t needed since the shutdown ended in late January.
