Why was SNAP affected during November?

1–2 minutes

The government shutdown had something to do with this but most came from political disagreements

SNAP benefits were in a predicament for November as the government was shut down until November 12, and the current administration refused to perform its duties. According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, around 41.7 million people were helped by SNAP benefits per month last year.

The issue with the benefits started in October when the government shut down. This caused federal services to slow down, but there were still measures in place for SNAP. Full benefits were paid in October, but the Trump Administration said it wouldn’t pay the benefits in November. According to NPR, the administration declared there was only half of the total amount of money in the contingency fund passed by Congress. This wasn’t true, and two federal judges demanded that the administration use the emergency fund that Congress had passed.

According to Newsweek, on November 12, President Trump signed a bill, passed by Congress, that stopped the government shutdown. This means that SNAP benefits should start to resume now, but the procedure to resume is unknown. Some states have already sent out benefits, such as California and New Mexico, but this is because it was started during the government shutdown.

The situation has been a mess created by political battles. The government shutdown happened because the Democrats and Republicans couldn’t vote on funding, with the root of the problem being related to the Affordable Care Act. Regardless, SNAP benefits should be back to normal soon, but the quick scare has seriously impacted people living here.

An assistant principal, Mrs. Garcia, said, “I had one student who was concerned about their siblings getting food. She would ask the cafeteria lady at the end of the day if she could take food from the share box for her siblings because she didn’t know if they were eating or playing in elementary school.” If some students have to resort to things like this, the SNAP pause must have made the situation worse.