Rep. Doggett: Republicans refuse to continue SNAP food assistance for 42 million Americans
Contact: Alexis Torres
Washington, D.C.—Today, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) released the following statement regarding the Trump Administration falsely asserting the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not have legal authority to utilize contingency funds for November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits:
“After cutting SNAP by $186 billion earlier this year in the Big Ugly Bill, Donald Trump and his accomplices are now refusing to extend SNAP food assistance that millions of families rely upon to put food on the table. Adding a hunger crisis to their self-made health care crisis, Republicans’ government shutdown is placing an enormous strain on the Central Texas Food Bank and other community service groups as families turn to them for help. For every meal a food bank provides, SNAP can provide nine—leaving many still struggling to keep their children fed. This Administration can, and must, immediately use the billions in reserve funding available for SNAP. As in September, USDA asserted it would on page 15 of its shutdown plan, which stated that such funds could be used during a shutdown.
“The President, who found $40 billion for Argentina, who is reopening USDA offices to get billions to farmers suffering from his tariff taxes, and who boasts that he can do almost anything, is refusing to tap a rainy-day fund to help seniors, veterans, and families with children. It’s not the well that’s run out, as Republicans claim; it’s their empathy for others that has run dry.
“While I strongly support the legal action taken by 25 states to pressure the Administration to uphold their responsibility to Americans, we cannot ignore that Congressional Republicans have wasted weeks doing nothing to resolve this shutdown. It’s time they join Democrats in an honest negotiation to reach a reasonable solution that keeps health care costs low and families fed.”
Relevant excerpt from USDA’s Lapse of Funding Plan (September 30, 2025):
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): OMB’s General Counsel provided a letter to USDA on May 23, 2025 stating that there is a bona fide need to obligate benefits for October – the first month of the fiscal year – during or prior to the month of September, thereby guaranteeing that benefit funds are available for program operations even in the event of a government shutdown at the beginning of a fiscal year. In addition, Congressional intent is evident that SNAP’s operations should continue since the program has been provided with multi-year contingency funds that can be used for State Administrative Expenses to ensure that the State can also continue operations during a Federal Government shutdown. These multi-year contingency funds are also available to fund participant benefits in the event that a lapse occurs in the middle of the fiscal year. To fulfill this Congressional intent, it is necessary that a limited number of FNS employees be excepted from furlough to support program operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, program policy and operations, financial management, and stakeholder communications.