WASHINGTON — Today, House AgricultureSubcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture Ranking Member Jahana Hayes (CT-05) and Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02) sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, demanding that she utilize the Congressionally authorized SNAP contingency fund to provide food assistance to hungry Americans as the Republican shutdown approaches its second month.
SNAP benefits were made available to eligible individuals in October, but due to the Agriculture Secretary’s unwillingness to use her statutory transfer authority along with the roughly $5 billion SNAP contingency fund to deliver benefits in November, 42 million American seniors, veterans and families with children risk not being able to keep food on their table.
The letter, signed by virtually every member of the House Democratic Caucus, comes as families, food banks, and farmers face rising costs and potential food shortages due to inflationary tariffs, increasing wealth inequality and reluctance by Trump administration officials to exercise its legal authorities to ensure that SNAP operations continue through November.
The lawmakers state, “USDA’s shutdown plan acknowledges that ‘Congressional intent is evident that SNAP’s operations should continue since the program has been provided with multi-year contingency funds…’ USDA still has significant funding available in SNAP’s contingency reserve – which Congress provides precisely for this reason – that can be used to fund the bulk of November benefits… Additionally, while the contingency reserve will not cover November benefits in full, we urge USDA to use its statutory transfer authority or any other legal authority at its disposal to supplement these dollars and fully fund November benefits.”
They continue, “There are clear steps the administration can and must take immediately to ensure that millions of families across the country can put food on their table in November. Choosing not to ensure SNAP benefits reach those in need this November would be a gross dereliction of your responsibilities to the American people.”
