The First Time in History: SNAP Payments Halted Under the Trump Administration

For the first time since the food assistance program began during the Great Depression, later known as SNAP, the United States government will not issue monthly benefits to millions of Americans.

Under the Trump administration, the Department of Agriculture announced that November SNAP payments will not be issued, citing a lack of appropriated funds due to the ongoing government shutdown. In every previous shutdown under both Republican and Democratic administrations, contingency funds were used to keep these essential benefits flowing. This time, the USDA has decided those funds “cannot” be used, leaving more than 40 million Americans without food assistance.

Let that sink in: through wars, recessions, and political fights, this country has always found a way to feed its people. Until now.

President Trump proudly says he’s “ended eight wars.” But while he claims credit for bringing troops home, his administration now says it can’t do anything to keep food on the tables of America’s poorest families. Ending wars is good, but letting your own people go hungry is not leadership. It’s neglect.

And now, officials are telling people to “reach out to their local food pantry.”  I help with two food pantries and I can tell you that is not going to work.  Our food pantries were built to supplement SNAP, not replace it. We run on donations, volunteers, and limited supplies. Even the largest food networks in the nation have already said they cannot absorb this kind of demand.

Here’s the hard reality:

There is no possible way food pantries can feed tens of millions of people who suddenly lose their benefits. Shelves will be empty in days. Volunteers will be exhausted. And families who were barely scraping by will be left to go without.

The Trump Administration is saying it is not legal to use the contingency money to continue SNAP payments, yet how many times has this same administration gone ahead and acted in violation of the law when it suited its political goals?  Seems like a double standard. When it comes to feeding the poor, suddenly the law matters.

And now, the right-wing media is already pointing fingers at Democrats, but the facts are clear: it is the Trump Administration that has refused to release the contingency funds that every other administration has used to keep food aid flowing.  While they play the blame game, American families are the ones paying the price.

This isn’t politics. It’s hunger, and for the first time in American history, hunger on this scale is happening not because we can’t help, but because our leaders won’t.

What You Can Do Right Now

This is not the time to sit quietly and hope someone else fixes it. Millions of Americans, including children, seniors, and working families are about to go hungry.  If enough of We the People raise our voices, this can still be reversed.

Call the White House: 202-456-1414. (10.25.2025 Disconnected due to federal funding impasse!)
Call your U.S. Senators and Representatives: 202-224-3121 (Capitol Switchboard — they’ll connect you directly). (10.29.2025 The Senators and House of Representatives are still taking calls)

Tell them clearly:

“Feeding hungry Americans is not optional. Reinstate SNAP funding immediately. Food pantries cannot replace this program.”

Share this message with your friends, churches, and community groups. Post it on social media. Every call, every voice, every bit of public pressure matters.

We’ve fed our people through every crisis in our nation’s history. We can’t fail now, not because of politics, not because of pride, and not because of neglect.

Additional information

Instances where SNAP had access to contingency or emergency funds - only under Donald Trump

1. 2018-2019 federal government shutdown (Dec 22, 2018 – Jan 25, 2019)

   • During the longest U.S. shutdown, at least until now, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) noted that SNAP could rely on a contingency fund ($3 billion as cited) if funding lapsed. 

   • The contingency fund was set up to “cover participant benefits” in case a funding lapse occurred mid-fiscal-year. 

   • So yes — in that case there was an arrangement to have emergency reserve funds for SNAP if appropriations stalled.

2. COVID-19 pandemic / emergency relief (2020)

   • Under laws like the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, SNAP got additional funding and flexibility via emergency/relief appropriations. 

   • This wasn’t a traditional government “shutdown” funding lapse, but a declared public health emergency where Congress appropriated extra resources for nutrition assistance.

⚠️ What’s different / problematic now (2025 shutdown also under Trump)

• In the current shutdown (starting Oct 1, 2025), USDA issued a memo stating that SNAP’s contingency funds cannot be used to sustain regular monthly benefits because “the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists.” even though in 2018 the USDA said it could be used.

• The memo says the fund is only for “supplementing regular monthly benefits when amounts have been appropriated but are insufficient” — not for covering a complete lapse of appropriations.

• States have been warned they won’t be reimbursed if they cover the benefits themselves.

• Advocacy groups say this is the first time in SNAP’s history that a monthly payment could be missed because of an appropriations lapse.

America must stand up for her own.