October 20, 2025
By Laura Beltrán Figueroa
The federal government shutdown continues as Republicans refuse to even consider compromising with Democrats about protecting health care or democracy.
The shutdown has led to the loss of many government services. And the Trump administration has made it worse by blocking government spending already appropriated by Congress. Trump is now going to add to the pain of the shutdown by refusing to protect November SNAP payments, which are received by nearly two million Pennsylvanians.[1]
There is no reason to cancel these payments because the federal government can prevent this crisis.
Under existing law, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) can tap into its multi-year contingency funds, as outlined in its Lapse of Funding Plan released on September 30, 2025.[2] These funds are specifically reserved for use when regular appropriations lapse to ensure that essential nutrition programs such as SNAP can continue to operate. The contingency account currently holds about $6 billion, and—after accounting for the federal share of state administrative expenses, which total less than $500 million per month—roughly $5 billion remains available. That amount covers nearly two-thirds of the $8 billion needed to provide a full month of SNAP benefits nationwide. In other words, USDA already has most of the resources necessary to prevent an interruption in food assistance and could deploy them immediately to protect millions of families from losing access to basic nutrition support.[3] To cover the remaining shortfall, the agency has limited but real options under existing law. The USDA’s total discretionary budget for FY2025 was approximately $24.36 billion, though most of that funding is already committed to specific programs.[4] Still, under 7 U.S.C. § 2257, the Secretary of Agriculture can transfer up to 7% of funds among USDA accounts when necessary to sustain program operations—a power already used earlier this month to move $300 million from the Child Nutrition account to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).[5]
In Pennsylvania, failure to act could have catastrophic consequences. In fiscal year 2022, 69% of Pennsylvania households receiving SNAP had incomes at or below the poverty line. Among participants were approximately 591,000 children under age 18, 222,000 adults under 60 with disabilities, and 344,000 older adults aged 60 and above.[6] These numbers represent some of the most vulnerable members of our communities—those for whom a missed month of benefits could mean going hungry or facing impossible trade-offs between food, rent, and medicine.
The administration’s inaction is a choice, not an inevitability. Both the funds and the legal authority exist to keep SNAP operating during the shutdown. Immediate action to release contingency funds and authorize targeted transfers would prevent unnecessary hardship, uphold congressional intent, and reaffirm the federal government’s responsibility to safeguard food security during times of fiscal and political uncertainty.
During the shutdown, President Trump has taken a number of actions, both to fire federal workers and to transfer federal funds from the Department of Defense (DoD) research fund to pay the members of our armed services. While no one wants to see our troops go unpaid, the legality of the DoD transfer is questionable. And courts have ruled that the administration cannot legally lay off government employees during the shutdown.
An administration willing to take illegal action during the shutdown to protect our troops should certainly be willing to take legal action to protect SNAP recipients.
[1]. Moriah Balingit, “WIC food program receives $300 M to keep running during government shutdown,” Associated Press website, October 10, 2025, https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-wic-food-a6d66fa0ce3d02257b5b43a79355b1bf.
[2]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, “SNAP State Factsheet — Pennsylvania,” accessed October 22, 2025, https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/snap-state-factsheet-pa.pdf.
[3]. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Human Services, “Due to Federal Shutdown, November SNAP Payments Will Not Be Made to Nearly Two Million Pennsylvanians,” October 20 2025, accessed October 22 2025, https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dhs/newsroom/due-to-federal-shutdown–november-snap-payments-will-not-be-made.
[4]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Lapse of Funding Plan (As of September 30, 2025), September 2025, accessed October 22, 2025, https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fy2026-usda-lapse-plan.pd.
[5]. Dottie Rosenbaum and Katie Bergh, “The Trump Administration Can and Should Take Available Steps to Ensure SNAP Participants Get November Food Benefits,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (blog), October 20, 2025, accessed October 22, 2025, https://www.cbpp.org/blog/the-trump-administration-can-and-should-take-available-steps-to-ensure-snap-participants-get.
[6]. House Committee on Appropriations, “Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2026: Summary,” June 4, 2025, accessed October 22, 2025, https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/fy26-ag-bill-summary-final.pdf.