🔗 Share this article Food Benefits Scheduled to Expire for Tens of Millions Throughout Ongoing Government Closure Federal agriculture authorities stated recently that monthly food benefits under one of the country’s largest social assistance programs are not going out in November because of the continuing federal government shutdown. Impasse Persists Through Its Third Week The funding lapse lasted nearly a month as officials revealed the news, which followed calls from over 200 House Democrats urging agriculture officials to utilize emergency reserves to cover next month's benefits. “The reality is, resources are exhausted,” the USDA stated. “Currently, no payments will be distributed” beginning in November. Millions Affected Tens of millions of people depend on these monthly payments, per federal data. Various areas, including one southwestern state, dependence on SNAP reaches a significant portion of citizens. Internal communications seen by Reuters showed that federal authorities would not access reserve funds for November food benefits. Political Stalemate Congressional leaders continue to disagree about the way to fund and reopen government operations. Remarks from the head of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities noted that the White House could have acted to prepare in advance to prevent benefits from running out. “Officials were able and expected to made moves weeks ago to get ready to utilize available money,” the remarks concluded. “Instead, officials could opt out for potential political benefit” as conservative leaders work to push upper chamber Democrats to support a spending bill to restart government operations. Emergency Measures Governors in two affected states issued emergency declarations recently to allocate funds to combat potential hunger expecting nutrition assistance payments stopping during the upcoming period.