Millions of Americans to get reduced food aid during government shutdown

The federal government shutdown has entered its second month. Photo / Jim Watson, AFP

The White House will send only partial food aid payments to 42 million low-income Americans, as the government shutdown crippling public services nears record length, officials told a judge.

Two federal courts ruled last week that President Donald Trump’s administration must use a US$4.65 billion ($8.14b) emergency fund toward the estimated US$9b cost for November’s payments before cutting off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP).

Officials for the Agriculture Department, which oversees the programme, said in a filing to a federal court in Rhode Island they would not make up the shortfall with other funding sources, meaning “50% of eligible households’ current allotments” would be disbursed.

Democrats’ blockade of a House of Representatives stopgap funding bill looks almost certain to hit its 36th day on Wednesday, which would beat the record for the longest shutdown in history.

As each week goes by, more Americans are feeling the pain from government services being suspended.

At the heart of the fight is money to help Americans cover health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

Those subsidies – a lifeline for more than 20 million people – are set to expire at year’s end and, unless Congress acts, premiums will skyrocket when the new sign-up period opens on Saturday.

But Washington’s warring parties are deadlocked, as Democrats refuse to reopen the government without a deal to extend the subsidies and Trump’s Republicans say they won’t talk until the lights are back on.

Snap funding averaging around US$356 a month per household lapsed on Saturday, leaving one in eight Americans uncertain of how they will buy groceries.

Lawmakers look to Trump

A federal judge in Rhode Island – backed by a similar ruling in Massachusetts – gave the fund a temporary reprieve, ordering the White House on Friday to use emergency funds to pay for food stamps during the shutdown, in a case brought by charities and other groups.

Democrats had been pushing the White House to use the emergency cash, but the administration argued that it could not legally tap that fund, which it said was meant for natural disasters.

WIC – the food aid program for pregnant women, new mothers and infants – is also on the brink thanks to the shutdown, while “Head Start” programmes that provide nutrition and family support to 65,000 infants began shuttering on Saturday.

Lawmakers on both sides of the political divide have voiced hopes that Trump will swoop in to broker a deal on the health care subsidies.

In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump said on Friday he had instructed government lawyers to “clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible”.

But it remained unclear when food stamp recipients would receive their payments, and the White House has acknowledged that there could be substantial delays because of the shutdown.

“There’s a process that has to be followed,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN on Sunday. “So, we’ve got to figure out what the process is. President Trump wants to make sure that people get their food benefits.”

-Agence France-Presse