GOP Blames Democrats as 42 Million Americans Face Losing Food Aid

If the government doesn't reopen by Saturday, SNAP funding will run dry. Twenty-three AGs and three governors have since filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for the move.

By Danielle Han  |  October 28, 2025 | 5:34pm
Photo: iStockphoto Trump Administration
GOP Blames Democrats as 42 Million Americans Face Losing Food Aid

While Donald Trump gorged on rice and beef at a diplomatic lunch with Japan’s new prime minister on Tuesday, tens of millions of Americans stressed about the weekend to come. Starting Saturday, the nation’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—which feeds about 12.5% of the U.S.—will run out of funds. 

The food stamp program receives about $8 billion per month through annual Congressional appropriations, which lapsed the day the shutdown began. But there’s supposed to be about $5 billion worth of funds to support SNAP in the case of an emergency—or, say, a shutdown, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the program. Supposed to be.

“The contingency funds are not legally available to cover the benefits right now,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said at a news conference on Monday. “The reason is because it’s a finite source of funds.” (Conveniently, he left out that just a few weeks ago, Trump reappropriated funds—without the support of Congress—to ensure active-duty military members would get their paychecks.) Johnson continued, “We need five more Democrats in the Senate to do the right thing, wake up and say, ‘I’m going to say no to the Marxist far-left pressure, and I’m going to do what’s right by the people.’” 

Well, the right thing to do would be to not fabricate a whole alternative contingency plan. Of course, Johnson also didn’t mention how, in July, the Trump administration tightened SNAP requirements under the One Big Beautiful Bill, and slashed the food-stamp program by 30%—the deepest cut in its 85-year history.

Before October, the agency’s website stated the program had “multi-year contingency funds that can be used” in shutdowns. But the USDA has since removed the page and, in a recent memo, states that the contingency fund “is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists.” A giant alert on the agency’s website currently reads: “Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01.”

“We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats,” the alert continues. “They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.” Jesus. Also, an important reminder that what Democrats are actually trying to do is ensure millions of Americans don’t lose their access to affordable health insurance.

SNAP benefits provide about one in eight U.S. residents an average of $187 a month in food aid, and is relied on by almost 42 million low-income Americans. Nearly 60% of benefits go to families with children, and at least 7.8 million elderly individuals and about 4 million nonelderly disabled people benefit from the program.

Still, the GOP remains adamant about positioning itself as the heroes of a problem they were the chief architects of. On Friday, a gaggle of Republican reps introduced a bill called “Keep Snap Funded,” which is again ironic, given that they were the party that voted to defund the program just months ago.

In an effort spearheaded by Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell (D-Mass.), 23 AGs and three governors filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Trump administration for illegally suspending SNAP benefits. Some states have also moved to try and cover the costs; California’s Governor Gavin Newsom deployed National Guard members towards food distribution efforts and allocated $80 million in funding to support food banks; and New York Governor Kathy Hochul vowed to fast-track $30 million for food relief. But, according to the USDA memo, these states will not be reimbursed by the federal government when it reopens.

At the time of writing, the Senate has officially turned down its 13th stopgap, sending us into the 28th day of the shutdown, the second-longest in U.S. history. The longest shutdown was 35 days during Trump 1.0, when he refused to sign a budget deal that didn’t include funds for his U.S.-Mexico border wall.

“They are now trying to reimagine themselves as the champions of federal workers, as the champions of food programs and health care,” Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said of Republicans on Wednesday. “When all they have done is take an axe to all of that since they came into office.”

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