Could SNAP benefits be delayed due to the government shutdown?
Amid the ongoing federal shutdown in the U.S., there are warnings that the SNAP benefits scheme is about to run out of money.
A Republican senator has introduced legislation to guarantee funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), amid warnings that the scheme is about to run out of money amid the government shutdown.
Josh Hawley, a senator for Missouri, on Wednesday tabled the Keep SNAP Funded Act. “Under the bill, Congress would appropriate the necessary funding to provide uninterrupted SNAP benefits, retroactive to the start of the shutdown,” Hawley said in a statement.
How many people get SNAP benefits? How much are they worth?
SNAP, the U.S.’s major food-stamps scheme, benefits around 40 million Americans, providing low-income households with a monthly payment that helps them to buy groceries.
SNAP checks averaged $187.20 per person per month in 2024, according to statistics published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.
“May be delayed or may not be provided at all”
In the wake of the U.S.’s federal government shutdown, however, the country’s agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, has warned there are “not enough funds” to continue the distribution of SNAP benefits after October.
State governments - which manage the payment of benefits to their residents, but foot the bill using federal funds - have also sounded the alarm.
In Hawley’s state, the Missouri Department of Social Services has said: “The federal government is not releasing funds for SNAP benefits yet for November, due to the government shutdown.
“Your November SNAP benefits may be delayed or may not be provided at all, depending on what the federal government decides.”
Other states whose administrations have offered similar warnings include California, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Historic federal shutdown
The U.S. government went into a shutdown on October 1, after Congress was unable to agree on a new federal funding bill amid disagreement between Republicans and Democrats on healthcare spending.
Having now entered its third week, the shutdown is currently the second-longest in U.S. history, behind the 35-day stoppage in December 2018 and January 2019.
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