Millions of Americans could lose access to food assistance if the government shutdown continues beyond Oct. 27.
At least nine states have warned that November SNAP benefits could be disrupted or halted entirely.
Advocates say the lapse would have a “devastating impact” on vulnerable families already struggling with food costs.
Officials in multiple states have sounded the alarm that millions of Americans may lose benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by the end of the month if the federal government cannot reopen in time to authorize new funding.
SNAP, created in 1939, provides food assistance to low-income families to help supplement grocery budgets and maintain adequate nutrition. The program, once known for paper “food stamps,” now operates through Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards that work much like debit cards.
New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, and Minnesota have all issued warnings in recent days. Some states have said that November benefits could be disrupted or not issued at all if the shutdown continues beyond Oct. 27. Others — including Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Illinois — have already confirmed that November benefits will not be paid.
“You’re talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families — of hungry families — that are not going to have access to these programs because of this shutdown,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said last week in a Washington Post report.
Deep cuts to the safety net
SNAP is funded entirely by the federal government. However, under the One Big Beautiful Bill, passed in July by the Republican-led Congress, states are expected to begin covering part of the program’s cost starting in 2028.
The legislation marked the largest reduction in U.S. social safety net funding in decades, sparking intense criticism from Democrats and anti-poverty advocates. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that the change would shrink household resources for low-income families and increase food insecurity nationwide.
Millions depend on monthly assistance
More than 42 million Americans currently rely on SNAP benefits, representing roughly 12.3 percent of the U.S. population, according to government data from August.
SNAP payments are a lifeline for many but rarely cover a household’s full food budget. The average benefit in fiscal year 2023 was $332 per household — or about $177 per person per month, according to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. That amounts to less than $6 per day in food assistance per recipient.
At a Chicago food pantry earlier this year, volunteers said they were already seeing rising demand as federal nutrition programs tightened. “SNAP is the largest and most effective hunger prevention program in the country,” said Barbara C. Guinn, commissioner of New York’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. “To permit monthly benefits to halt would be unprecedented and have an immediate and devastating impact.”