Uncertainty over federal food aid deepens as the shutdown fight reaches
a crisis point
[November 03, 2025]
By STEPHEN GROVES, ALI SWENSON and SUSAN HAIGH
WASHINGTON (AP) — The crises at the heart of the government shutdown
fight in Washington were coming to a head Saturday as the federal food
assistance program faced delays and millions of Americans were set to
see a dramatic rise in their health insurance bills.
The impacts on basic needs — food and medical care — underscored how the
impasse is hitting homes across the United States. Plans by the Trump
administration to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program on Saturday were halted by federal judges, but the
delay in payouts will still likely leave millions of people short on
their grocery bills.
It all added to the strain on the country, with a month of missed
paychecks for federal workers and growing air travel delays. The
shutdown is already the second longest in history and entered its second
month on Saturday,.
“This is more than a crisis,” said the Rev. John Udo-Okon, who runs the
Word of Life Christian Fellowship International food pantry in the
Bronx, where hundreds more people than usual lined up in the New York
City borough as early as 4 a.m. Saturday to collect groceries. “Right
now, you can see the desperation, you can feel the frustration that the
people are going through."
But back in Washington, there was little urgency to end the government
funding impasse. Lawmakers are away from Capitol Hill and both parties
are entrenched in their positions.
The House has not met for legislative business in more than six weeks,
while Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., closed his chamber for
the weekend after bipartisan talks failed to achieve significant
progress.
Thune said he is hoping “the pressure starts to intensify, and the
consequences of keeping the government shut down become even more real
for everybody that they will express, hopefully new interest in trying
to come up with a path forward.”
The stalemate appears increasingly unsustainable as Republican President
Donald Trump demands action and Democratic leaders warn that an uproar
over rising health insurance costs will force Congress to act.
“This weekend, Americans face a health care crisis unprecedented in
modern times,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said
this week.
Delays and uncertainty around SNAP
The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold $8 billion needed for
payments to the food program starting on Saturday until two federal
judges ordered the administration to make them. Trump said he would
provide the money but wanted more legal direction from the court.
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell in Rhode Island
ordered that the government needed to tell the court by Monday how it
would fund SNAP accounts. McConnell, who was nominated by President
Barack Obama, said the Trump administration needed to either make a full
payment by Monday, or if it decides to only tap $3 billion in a
contingency fund, figure out how to do that by Wednesday.
“There is no question that the congressionally approved contingency
funds must be used now because of the shutdown,” McConnell wrote in his
order.
But that still leaves uncertainty about whether the department will use
additional money or only provide partial benefits for the month. The
SNAP program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and costs about $8 billion
per month.
Benefits were already facing delays because it takes a week or more to
load SNAP cards in many states. Some governors and mayors have stepped
in, using what money they have available to fill the program that feeds
about 42 million Americans.
“People are just nervous, scared,” said Jill Corbin, the director of the
St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen and food pantry in Norwich,
Connecticut. ”It’s not really a definite answer that we have right now."
As people lined up early Saturday for hot meals and groceries, the
organization had 10 extra volunteers to help newcomers navigate the
process. On Wednesday, some 400 families visited the food pantry and 555
people received hot meals.
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MUST Ministries delivers food to the public via a drive through
service, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Austell, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike
Stewart)
 “It’s kind of like everything is
unraveling at the same time,” Corbin said.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York criticized Trump
for spending Saturday at one of his Florida golf courses, saying on
social media that “Trump and Republicans are illegally withholding
SNAP benefits."
"Millions of children could go hungry,” he added.
Democrats demanded this week that the government fund SNAP, but
Republicans responded by arguing the program is in such a dire
situation because Democrats have repeatedly voted against a
short-term government funding bill.
“We are now reaching a breaking point thanks to Democrats voting no
on government funding, now 14 different times,” House Speaker Mike
Johnson, R-La., said at a news conference Friday.
Trump injected himself into the debate late Thursday by suggesting
that Republican senators, who hold the majority, end the shutdown by
getting rid of the filibuster rules that prevent most legislation
from advancing unless it has the support of at least 60 senators.
Democrats have used the filibuster to block a funding bill in the
Senate for weeks.
Republican leaders quickly rejected Trump's idea, prompting the
president to double down on the demand Saturday night.
“Don’t be WEAK AND STUPID. FIGHT,FIGHT, FIGHT! WIN, WIN, WIN!" Trump
posted on social media, arguing that Democrats would terminate the
filibuster rules if they regain the Senate majority. “We will
immediately END the Extortionist Shutdown, get ALL of our agenda
passed, and make life so good for Americans that these DERANGED
DEMOCRAT politicians will never again have the chance to DESTROY
AMERICA!”
“Republicans, you will rue the day that you didn’t TERMINATE THE
FILIBUSTER!!!” he added.
Health care subsidies expiring
The annual sign-up period for the Affordable Care Act health
insurance also begins Saturday, and there are sharp increases in
what people will have to pay for coverage. Enhanced tax credits that
help most enrollees pay for the health plans are set to expire next
year.
Democrats have rallied around a push to extend those credits and
have refused to vote for government funding legislation until
Congress acts.
“Millions of Americans in every state across this country are waking
up to drastically higher premiums for the same health care coverage
they’re already on.” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., in a
statement.
If Congress does not extend the credits, subsidized enrollees will
face cost increases of about 114%, or more than $1,000 per year, on
average, health care research nonprofit KFF found.
Some Republicans in Congress have been open to the idea of extending
the subsidies, but they also want to make major changes to the
health overhaul enacted while Democrat Barack Obama was president.
Thune has offered Democrats a vote on extending the benefits, but
has not guaranteed a result. And he is demanding that Democrats
first vote to reopen the government.
So the country waits and watches for Congress to act.
T.J. McCuin, whose family owns and operates farmers markets in Mesa
and Apache Junction, Arizona, said 15% of the markets’ customers use
SNAP benefits. "Hopefully this isn’t a long-term problem because
once those benefits run out, then it’s going to start to hurt," he
said.
___
Haigh reported from Norwich, Connecticut. Associated Press writers
Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix and
Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.
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