SNAP crisis

 NPR - SNAP benefits have never been cut off due to a shutdown, and now a federal judge is stepping in to decide whether to order the Trump administration to find ways to get people money to buy food. The Agriculture Department posted on its website that “the well has run dry” and stated in a memo that it doesn’t have sufficient funds for SNAP benefits for next month and cannot legally use contingency funds. Democratic governors and attorneys general from about two dozen states sued, arguing that SNAP is an entitlement that cannot be simply cut off.

Even if the ruling comes soon, there will still be a delay in states receiving the funds they need, according to NPR's Jennifer Ludden. This is because the federal government sends funding to the states before the first of the month, and then it takes days to get it onto the debit-like cards that people use. An added complication is that the full SNAP funding for November is approximately $9 billion, but the administration reports that there is only about $5.5 billion in the contingency fund. Recalculating for partial payments could take weeks, resulting in people not only having to wait but also getting less money.