The United States government will only partially fund SNAP, its primary public food assistance programme, this month due to the federal government’s partial shutdown.
This decision affects tens of millions of Americans who rely on food stamps.
According to CBS News, the Department of Agriculture informed a Rhode Island court in a statement that SNAP’s emergency fund will be entirely depleted and reduced benefits will be provided in November 2025.
Patrick Penn, a senior official at the department, stated in the same document that the emergency fund contains about $4.65 billion.
That’s just over half of the $9 billion required to fully operate SNAP for one month.
The plan involves using the available funds to cover 50 percent of current allocations for already enrolled households, Penn confirmed.
Politico reported that there will be no funds available for new families seeking food stamp assistance.
More than 42 million Americans depend on SNAP to purchase food.
The programme encountered a financial shortfall over the weekend, triggered by budgetary issues that caused the government shutdown.
SNAP operates through federal funds sent to individual states, which then coordinate food assistance for their residents.
On Friday, a US federal judge ordered the government to use emergency funds to continue running the programme.
