With no end in sight for the political standoff that shuttered the federal government, funding for some key programs is drying up.
More than 40 million Americans may not see their food stamps issued next month, as the government shutdown extends into its third full week. Some states have begun warning their residents of the looming threat to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP.
“Because Republicans in Washington, D.C., failed to pass a federal budget, causing the federal government shutdown, November 2025 SNAP benefits cannot be paid,” a notification on Pennsylvania’s SNAP info page reads.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul demanded that the federal government release funds for SNAP recipients, accusing the Trump administration of deliberately enacting “a cruel, senseless and politically motivated punishment” that could be avoided.
“I’m outraged that Washington Republicans are deliberately withholding federal funding from millions of New Yorkers who rely on SNAP to put food on the table,” Hochul said in a press release, highlighting the 3 million New Yorkers who stand to be affected by a SNAP shortfall.
Ronald Ward, the acting associate administrator of SNAP, warned states in a letter that the program was only funded through October, Axios reported earlier this month. That budget shortfall could leave 42 million people without the benefits they rely on, beginning in November. The letter cautioned states to hold off on distributing funds to SNAP recipients’ electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards “until further notice.”
Blame game
The federal shutdown has turned into a heated blame game, even compared with past shutdown standoffs. At the end of September, Democrats refused to support a bill to fund the federal government, seizing on the rare opportunity for political leverage to demand an extension to the tax credits that reduce the cost of health insurance for millions of Americans. Democrats have also called for Republicans to roll back Medicaid cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed in July.
Because Republicans can’t hit the 60 vote threshold needed to fund the government without Democrats, the shutdown is a stalemate unless one side backs down.
The Trump administration has taken extraordinary measures to associate the shutdown with his political opposition, even ordering airports to play a video of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for shutdown-related travel delays. Many airports refused to air the video, citing policies against displaying political content.
Noem isn’t the only member of Trump’s cabinet to spread that messaging. “Democrats are putting free healthcare for illegal aliens and their political agenda ahead of food security for American families,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on X, blaming what she referred to as the “Democrat shutdown.”
During the shutdown, some government websites are displaying unusually partisan messages. The USDA’s website is currently topped by a banner noting that it won’t be updated and blaming “the Radical Left Democrat shutdown.” “President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people,” the message reads.
Selective funding
Most of the federal government is shuttered in light of the political standoff, but the Trump administration is finding ways to fund its own political priorities.
Trump ordered the Pentagon and the White House to use “all available funds” to pay active-duty members of the military, avoiding the political fallout of service members missing paychecks. The White House also opted to fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, better known as WIC, using money collected from tariffs. “The Trump White House will not allow impoverished mothers and their babies to go hungry because of the Democrats’ political games,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios.
Trump went around Congress to allocate those funds, but Congress also has the ability to selectively dole out cash for programs that would otherwise have their funding cut off during a federal shutdown. Still, the food stamps program may not be a priority for Republicans, given the party’s willingness to slash SNAP dramatically to fund tax cuts and defense spending in the massive bill that passed this summer.
The federal shutdown’s short-term hit to SNAP could be devastating for Americans who rely on the program to put food on the table. But lasting changes to the program mean fewer Americans will be eligible for food assistance when the spigot of federal funds does eventually open back up.