A notice posted on the U.S. Department of Agriculture website says no federal food‑aid payments will be issued on Nov. 1, a move that threatens monthly SNAP benefits for millions and has local leaders in Las Vegas scrambling. County and nonprofit officials say they are lining up pantries, gift cards and other emergency help as households face a possible gap in food assistance.
USDA posts a hard deadline
The USDA posted a message on its site saying, “At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01,” and warned that “Bottom line, the well has run dry,” as reported by the Associated Press. The notice comes after the administration said it would not tap roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to carry SNAP payments into November, AP adds. The agency tied the decision in part to legal limits on funds meant for disaster response, raising the stakes as the shutdown stretches into its fourth week.
How many people are on the line
More than 41 million Americans rely on monthly SNAP payments, Reuters reports, and in some states the program accounts for a very large share of grocery spending. If benefits pause in November, food banks and retailers that rely on SNAP redemptions could see demand spike and revenue dip at the same time, community leaders warn. That combination has prompted several state officials to consider emergency steps to shore up local food systems.
Why the USDA says it can’t cover November
According to reporting that reviewed an internal USDA memo, the department says contingency funds are reserved for disaster response and are “not legally available to cover regular benefits,” a claim described in AP’s coverage of the notice. That memo specifically cited an approaching storm — named Melissa — as the sort of emergency the reserves must remain ready to address. The legal interpretation leaves little room for the department to simply move money into routine monthly allotments, officials say.
States scrambling to plug the gap
Some governors have already moved to cushion the hit: Reuters reports that Louisiana and Virginia declared states of emergency this week to free up state funds for hunger relief. Lawmakers and advocates in Congress have urged the USDA to use its emergency reserves, but the department has signaled it will not do so if those funds are legally constrained. The result is a patchwork of state and local plans to blunt what could be a sudden shortfall in grocery money for many families.
Las Vegas braces — airport pantry opens
Locally, Clark County set up a food‑and‑essentials pantry at Harry Reid International Airport to help roughly 1,500 federal aviation workers, with donations from Three Square and area businesses, as noted by the Las Vegas Review‑Journal. Hoodline also covered the county effort and wider local preparations in recent updates, noting community donation drives and county coordination. County leaders said the pantry will remain open as long as the need persists.
Legal and reimbursement questions
The USDA memo also says states that temporarily pick up SNAP costs would not be reimbursed, which complicates the possibility of states stepping in, according to PBS’s report of the notice and related coverage. That legal constraint helps explain why some governors are declaring emergencies to free state dollars for immediate relief, but it also shifts fiscal strain onto states already facing tight budgets. Lawyers and policy experts say short‑term state action can buy time, but it is not a long‑term substitute for federal funding…