On Friday October 17, the Los Angeles County Department of Social Services sent an email to all LA County–area SNAP beneficiaries stating that November benefits may not be available due to the federal government shutdown. The shutdown — which held federal lawmakers in gridlock until recently — had threatened the existence of programs to protect against hunger and food insecurity as lawmakers struggled to reach agreement on a spending bill. SNAP, the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provides assistance to over 1.5 million individuals in LA County through the CalFresh program. Over 40 million people rely on SNAP nationwide.
As November arrived and anxieties swirled around the future of SNAP, the Trump administration stated that it would be restarting benefits but only paying out half of what program enrollees normally receive. The funding was slated to come from the Agriculture Department’s contingency pool and would have supplied $4.65 billion for November. The total number that paid out monthly prior to the shutdown was $8 billion.
Upon visiting the USDA Food and Nutrition Service website during the shutdown, one could see a message reading “Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp (SNAP) program. … Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutritional assistance.”…