No food stamps from next month as USDA says 'the well has run dry'

[Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)]
hapabapa

Federal food aid will be suspended from Nov. 1 on account of the ongoing government shutdown, a move that is expected to impact millions of Americans.

"Bottom line, the well has run dry," a notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture read [https://www.usda.gov/]. "At this time, there will be no benefits issued Nov. 1."

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - commonly called the food stamp program - served more than 42M low-income people during FY 2025. That means about 1 in 8 people in the U.S. rely on SNAP benefits.

Democratic officials in 25 states have sued the Trump administration to block the SNAP benefits suspension. The lawsuit [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.290958/gov.uscourts.mad.290958.1.0.pdf] contends that the administration is legally required to use the SNAP contingency fund - estimated to be ~$6B - to cover benefits.

"Contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular benefits," the USDA wrote in a memo last week. "Instead, the contingency fund is a source of funds for contingencies, such as the Disaster SNAP program, which provides food purchasing benefits for individuals in disaster areas."

"Congressional intent is evident that SNAP's operations should continue since the program has been provided with multi-year contingency funds," according to the USDA's Lapse of Funding Plan dated Sept. 30, which noted that the funds are available to fund the benefits. The plan has since been taken down from the USDA's website.

The government shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, is now the second-longest on record, with no end in sight. The Trump administration blames the shutdown on Democrats, who are pushing for the extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Many ACA enrollees face significant premium increases next year, with some seeing double-digit percentage jumps, _The Wall Street Journal_ reported [https://www.wsj.com/politics/americans-are-getting-a-look-at-next-years-aca-premiums-and-many-dont-like-it-b6a2326b]. According to health policy research nonprofit KFF, premiums for ACA plans will rise 26% on average in 2026.

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