[continued from previous message]   
      
   As CBPP documented, guidance issued by the USDA in 2019 stated that in   
   the event of an extended shutdown, there were contingency reserve funds   
   available to help continue to make SNAP benefit payments.   
      
   USDA’s New Position   
   The USDA, however, now says it cannot use the reserve to pay regular   
   SNAP benefits.   
      
   A USDA memo provided to NPR says, “Contingency funds are not legally   
   available to cover regular benefits.”   
      
   “SNAP contingency funds are only available to supplement regular monthly   
   benefits when amounts have been appropriated for, but are insufficient   
   to cover, benefits,” the memo states. “The contingency fund is not   
   available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation   
   for regular benefits no longer exists.   
      
   “Instead, the contingency fund is a source of funds for contingencies,   
   such as the Disaster SNAP program, which provides food purchasing   
   benefits for individuals in disaster areas, including natural disasters   
   like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, that can come on quickly and   
   without notice. For example, Hurricane Melissa is currently swirling in   
   the Caribbean and could reach Florida. Having funds readily available   
   allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to mobilize quickly in   
   the days and weeks following a disaster.”   
      
   The memo also says transfers from the contingency fund would “pull away   
   funding for school meals and infant formula.”   
      
   And, it says, states can’t cover the cost either: “Despite their   
   willingness, States cannot cover the cost of benefits and be reimbursed.   
   Unlike other reimbursable programs, SNAP allotments are fully Federally   
   funded. States are responsible for determining household benefits, and   
   the movement of dollars through to the processors and ultimately to the   
   retailers. There is no provision or allowance under current law for   
   States to cover the cost of benefits and be reimbursed.”   
      
   “I got a summary of the whole legal analysis, and it certainly looks   
   legitimate to me,” Johnson said at his press conference on Oct. 27. “The   
   contingency funds are not legally available to cover the benefits right   
   now. The reason is because it’s a finite source of funds. It was   
   appropriated by Congress and if they transfer funds from these other   
   sources, it pulls it away immediately from school meals and infant   
   formula, so it’s a trade-off.”   
      
   Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer isn’t buying it.   
      
   “Don’t give me the lie that this can’t be done legally,” Schumer said   
   from the Senate floor on Oct. 29.   
      
   “Just weeks ago, Trump’s own U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed in   
   writing that contingency funds — about $6 billion in emergency reserves   
   — were ‘available to fund participant benefits,'” Schumer said.   
   “That’s   
   not Democrats saying that. That’s the Republican-appointed U.S.   
   Department of Agriculture saying, again, $6 billion in emergency   
   reserves were ‘available to fund participant benefits.'”   
      
   It should be noted that the cost to fund SNAP benefits through the   
   entire month of November (about $8 billion) is more than the amount in   
   the contingency fund (between $5 billion and $6 billion).   
      
   According to CBPP, in addition to tapping the contingency fund, “the   
   Administration could use its legal transfer authority … to supplement   
   the contingency reserves, which alone are not enough to fund families’   
   full benefits for November.”   
      
   Said Schumer: “Never before in American history — not once under a   
   Democratic president or a Republican president — has SNAP funding lapsed   
   during a shutdown. Not even in 2019, during Trump’s last shutdown. In   
   fact, Trump himself funded SNAP throughout that shutdown. So, this   
   argument that he can’t do it and that he doesn’t have the money and that   
   it’s not legal is just bull.”   
      
   Democratic attorneys general and governors from more than 20 states   
   filed a federal lawsuit claiming the suspension of SNAP benefits “is   
   both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the   
   Administrative Procedure Act.”   
      
   According to the lawsuit, “USDA suspended SNAP benefits even though, on   
   information and belief, it has funds available to it that are sufficient   
   to fund all, or at least a substantial portion, of November SNAP benefits.”   
      
   Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a bill, the “Keep SNAP   
   Funded Act,” on Oct. 21 that seeks to ensure SNAP benefits are paid   
   during the shutdown. It has 14 Republican co-sponsors.   
      
   In an op-ed, Hawley said, “There is no reason any of these residents of   
   my state — or any other American who qualifies for food assistance —   
   should go hungry. We can afford to provide the help.”   
      
   At least one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins, who co-sponsored Hawley’s   
   bill, questioned the administration’s interpretation that it does not   
   have the authority to use the contingency fund to continue to pay SNAP   
   benefits.   
      
   “It is a novel interpretation for the department to claim that it cannot   
   use that $5 billion in contingency money to help with SNAP benefits,”   
   Collins said. “I don’t think this was a USDA opinion. I really think it   
   was imposed by OMB and we’ve been having discussions with OMB’s   
   attorneys.”   
      
   In an interview aboard Air Force One on Oct. 28, Trump was asked if SNAP   
   payments would stop on Nov. 1.   
      
   “Well, we’re going to get it done,” Trump said. “The Democrats have   
   caused the problem on food stamps. Of course, all they have to do is sign.”   
      
   Update, Oct. 31: A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump   
   administration to continue paying SNAP benefits during the shutdown.   
   According to the New York Times, Judge John J. McConnell of the U.S.   
   District Court for the District of Rhode Island specifically noted that   
   USDA “must distribute the contingency money timely, or as soon as   
   possible, for the Nov. 1 payments to be made.” In a separate case, Judge   
   Indira Talwani, of the U.S. District Court for the District of   
   Massachusetts, found the Trump administration’s hold on paying SNAP   
   benefits was “unlawful.” “Congress has put money in an emergency fund,”   
   Talwani said during a hearing in the case, according to the New York   
   Times. “It’s hard for me to understand how this isn’t an emergency, when   
   there’s no money and a lot of people are needing their SNAP benefits.”   
      
   https://www.factcheck.org/2025/10/democrats-and-republicans-clas   
   -over-snap-contingency-funds/   
      
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