Will millions of low-income Americans lose food stamps during shutdown?

If the United States national government shutdown continues, millions of low-income Americans could suffer entree to a monthly payment that pays for food.

About 42 cardinal radical person wealth done the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), sometimes called nutrient stamps. The Department of Agriculture told states successful an October 10 missive that if the shutdown continues, the programme would tally retired of wealth to wage for benefits successful November.

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President Donald Trump’s Republican medication is blaming the Democrats with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins repeating a mendacious healthcare talking constituent connected October 16 connected X: “Democrats are putting escaped wellness attraction for amerciable aliens and their governmental docket up of nutrient information for American families. Shameful.”

The authorities shutdown stems from disagreements betwixt Democrats – who privation Congress, arsenic portion of approving national funding, to widen expiring enhanced subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), done which uninsured Americans tin bargain wellness security – and Republicans, who privation to widen national backing archetypal earlier negotiating implicit whether oregon however to widen the ACA subsidies.

SNAP is simply a national programme operated by authorities agencies. Participants person an mean idiosyncratic monthly payment of astir $190 oregon $356 per household. Recipients whitethorn usage the benefits to bargain fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products, breadstuff and different foods. The bulk of SNAP households unrecorded successful poverty.

Lawmakers and societal media users person made respective statements astir SNAP with varying degrees of accuracy astir the shutdown and the Republican taxation and spending instrumentality that Trump signed successful July. Here’s a person look:

Many societal media posts person said nutrient stamps are going distant arsenic soon arsenic November 1.

“Let that descend successful – conscionable successful clip for the acold play and the period of giving thanks,” 1 Instagram station said.

That could hap for millions of people. But it mightiness not hap for each of them, and it could hap passim the period of November due to the fact that the monthly day erstwhile radical person their benefits varies by state.

The Trump medication could usage SNAP’s contingency money to wage for astir two-thirds of a afloat period of benefits, oregon it could transportation different Agriculture Department funds, according to the Center connected Budget and Policy Priorities, a wide deliberation tank. The medication has said it has recovered backing to proceed the Women, Infants and Children programme, different nutrient programme for low-income families.

According to an Agriculture Department backing lapse plan, SNAP “shall proceed operations during a lapse successful appropriations, taxable to the availability of funding”.

An Agriculture Department missive told states to clasp disconnected connected steps that would pb to radical receiving their November benefits. Federal regulations necessitate that reductions beryllium made successful a mode that higher-income recipients suffer much benefits than the lowest-income recipients.

We asked medication officials for much item but received nary effect to our questions.

Many authorities officials – including successful Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin – said that if the shutdown continues, participants mightiness not oregon volition not person benefits successful November. A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Children and Families told PolitiFact that if the shutdown continues into November, benefits volition not beryllium issued.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said connected Wednesday that helium volition deploy the National Guard and California Volunteers, a authorities agency, to enactment nutrient banks and supply $80m successful authorities money.

“Empty cupboards and stomachs are not abstract outcomes,” Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers told Rollins successful a Wednesday letter. “They are the precise existent and adjacent consequences of the dysfunction successful Washington. These are besides consequences you tin forestall today.”

Meanwhile, nutrient banks crossed the state person taken a deed from different Trump medication policies. ProPublica reported connected October 3 that earlier successful the year, the medication chopped $500m successful deliveries done the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which provides nutrient to authorities organisation agencies.

So what person cardinal lawmakers said connected this contented and however existent are their claims?

‘We are not cutting’ SNAP

– Mike Johnson, talker of the US House of Representatives, connected the TV programme Face the Nation connected May 25

This is false.

Johnson spoke aft the House passed a Republican-backed measure known astatine the clip arsenic the One Big Beautiful Bill, which included galore of Trump’s argumentation priorities.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the nonpartisan number-crunching limb of Congress, estimated successful May that 3.2 cardinal less radical per period connected mean would person SNAP benefits implicit the adjacent 9 years based connected the bill’s changes to enactment requirements and restrictions connected states’ quality to waive the enactment requirements successful areas with precocious unemployment.

A much caller August CBO investigation estimated the changes would trim information successful SNAP by astir 2.4 cardinal people.

‘Nearly 25 cents of each $1 spent via SNAP goes to farmers and ranchers’

– Wisconsin authorities Representative Francesca Hong successful a June 12 X post

This is true.

In a series of X posts, Hong said it wouldn’t beryllium lone families receiving nutrient assistance that would beryllium wounded by the legislation.

A illustration published this twelvemonth by the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service showed that successful 2023, workplace establishments made 24.3 cents of each dollar spent connected nutrient astatine home, including astatine market stores and supermarkets.

‘About 20 percent of households with veterans trust upon’ SNAP

– House Democratic person Hakeem Jeffries astatine a May 8 quality conference

This is mostly false.

An April 2 survey recovered that 8 percent of veterans trust connected SNAP benefits. No authorities had a stock higher than 14 percent. Studies with information from a fewer years earlier showed rates from 4.9 percent to 6.6 percent.

Louis Jacobson, Staff Writer Loreben Tuquero and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newsman Madeline Heim contributed to this article.