"The U.S. Department of Agriculture has posted a notice on its website saying federal food aid will not go out on November 1, raising the stakes for families nationwide as the government shutdown drags on. The new notice comes after the Trump administration said it would not tap roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as SNAP, flowing into November. That program helps about 1 in 8 Americans buy groceries."
""Bottom line, the well has run dry," the USDA notice says. "At this time, there will be no benefits issued on November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats." The shutdown, which began Oct. 1, is now the second-longest on record. While the Republican administration took steps leading up to the shutdown to ensure SNAP benefits were paid this month,"
"The administration blames Democrats, who say they will not agree to reopen the government until Republicans negotiate with them on extending expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans say Democrats must first agree to reopen the government before negotiations. Democratic lawmakers have written to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requesting to use contingency funds to cover the bulk of next month's benefits."
USDA posted a notice stating federal food aid will not be issued on November 1 as the government shutdown continues. The administration declined to use roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep SNAP benefits flowing into November. SNAP helps about one in eight Americans purchase groceries. The shutdown began Oct. 1 and is now the second-longest on record; a cutoff would widen the impact unless a political resolution is reached. Political leaders trade blame over reopening and negotiating Affordable Care Act subsidies. A USDA memo says contingency funds are legally reserved for disaster response, citing storm Melissa.
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
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