House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday the Trump administration cannot legally tap into a $5 billion Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program contingency fund to pay for food benefits during the government shutdown.
The Agriculture Department, which runs the program, has a notice on its website stating that there will be no SNAP benefits issued on Saturday because “the well has run dry” and Senate Democrats are blocking a bill to reopen the government and fund the program.
Roughly 42 million low-income Americans are enrolled in SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, and receive monthly payments from the government to buy groceries.
Mr. Johnson said he’s received a summary of a legal analysis concluding that $5 billion in SNAP contingency funds “are not legally available to cover the benefits right now.”
“There has to be a preexisting appropriation for the contingency fund to be used, and Democrats blocked that appropriation when they rejected the clean continuing resolution,” he said, referring to a House-passed stopgap spending bill to fund the government through Nov. 21.
The Agriculture Department also has a “finite source of funds” and not enough money to move around to pay out monthly SNAP benefits on Saturday, the speaker said.
“If they transfer funds from these other sources, it pulls it away immediately from school meals and infant formula,” he said. “So there it’s a trade-off.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, said on Friday that the Trump administration has the resources, including through the $5 billion emergency contingency fund, to pay for SNAP benefits.
“Not a single American should go hungry,” he said.
The summary memo of the legal analysis, which the Agriculture Department provided to The Washington Times, disagrees with Mr. Jeffries’ assessment.
“SNAP contingency funds are only available to supplement regular monthly benefits when amounts have been appropriated for, but are insufficient to cover, benefits,” the summary memo says. “The contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists.”
The contingency fund is intended to help provide food benefits for individuals in disaster areas, including natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods.
“For example, Hurricane Melissa is currently swirling in the Caribbean and could reach Florida,” the memo says. “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 affirms Mr. Johnson’s claim that the Agriculture Department cannot transfer funds from other sources without jeopardizing other critical programs, including the national school breakfast and lunch programs, as well as other child nutrition programs.
The Trump administration transferred $23 billion from Section 32 tariff funds to carry out those programs during the shutdown, as well as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) that provides infant formula and other support to low-income mothers.
The government fully funds SNAP benefits, but states administer them.
“There is no provision or allowance under current law for States to cover the cost of benefits and be reimbursed,” the memo says.
The public notice on the Agriculture Department’s website about SNAP funds running out blames Senate Democrats for voting 12 times against funding SNAP and the rest of the government in an effort to secure their partisan demands.
“They can continue to 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 nutrition assistance,” the notice reads.
Mr. Johnson likewise put the onus on Democrats to act soon if they want Americans to receive their SNAP benefits next month.
“The best way for SNAP benefits to be paid on time is for the Democrats to end their shutdown, and that could happen right now if they would show some spine,” he said, accusing them of catering to “Marxist far-left pressure.”
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said the administration is making an “intentional choice” not to fund SNAP or tap the emergency fund.
“If the administration can cough up $40 billion for Argentina, they can find money for SNAP by this Saturday,” he said. “This administration that all year long has trampled over the rule of law — illegally impounded funds left and right — says the law won’t let them find the funds to pay hungry kids? Give me a break.”
Mr. Jeffries has said Republicans cannot lecture Democrats about nutritional assistance when they cut $186 billion in SNAP funding over the next decade in their budget reconciliation law, enacted this summer.
“That’s the largest SNAP cut in American history,” he said. “And people are to believe right now that Republicans actually care about hunger when they rip food away from the mouths of hungry children, seniors, families, women and veterans to provide massive tax breaks to their billionaire donors? Get lost with that in terms of Republican spin. The American people are not buying it.”
The food delivery service DoorDash announced Monday that it will be partnering with grocers to waive delivery and service fees for an estimated 300,000 orders for SNAP recipients. DoorDash will also be delivering 1 million free meals through food banks and donating fresh food, shelf-stable items and household essentials.
• Mary McCue Bell contributed to this report.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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