WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has ruled out tapping a $5 billion contingency fund to sustain food assistance payments during the ongoing government shutdown, according to a Department of Agriculture memo obtained by the Associated Press.
The document, circulated Friday, declares that states using their own funds to maintain benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in November will not be reimbursed. It also clarifies that “contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular benefits.”
Democratic lawmakers and anti-hunger advocates had urged the administration to draw from the reserve to prevent interruptions to SNAP, which helps about one in eight Americans afford groceries. In Pennsylvania alone, roughly two million people could lose access to the program if the shutdown persists.
The memo states that the contingency fund is reserved for emergencies, such as natural disasters, citing Tropical Storm Melissa as an example of situations that require the rapid deployment of aid.
The department also attributes the shutdown, which began on 1 October, to congressional Democrats, claiming that benefits would continue “if not for Democrats blocking government funding.”
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries countered that the administration already has sufficient resources to prevent hunger, accusing Republicans of “weaponizing food insecurity.” More than 200 House Democrats sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Friday, urging her to use the fund to ensure families receive assistance.
The agency’s latest position appears to diverge from its earlier contingency operations plan, which suggested that Congress intended for SNAP to continue during a lapse in funding. The department now argues that, with no active appropriation, contingency funds cannot be used to sustain regular benefits.
The government shutdown, now one of the longest in U.S. history, began after a short-term funding bill failed to advance in the Senate, leaving millions uncertain about access to food aid in the coming weeks.
Based on reporting from the Associated Press