An update for November 3, 2025 from ELCA coalition partner, Alliance to End Hunger.

The federal Court in Rhode Island today received the plans from USDA, which will meet its obligation to expend SNAP contingency funds (and only SNAP contingency funds). USDA has chosen not to go further than that to identify additional funds to pay the expected full benefit amount for participants.

What this means to SNAP participants is that they will receive first, notification that their benefits are changing. People who apply in November will not receive benefits right away under this arrangement. Those who were on the roles in October will wait for an unknown time to receive half of their benefits.
States will have to re-program their computer systems, some of which are old and unwieldy. Some states may be able to do this quickly, others may take weeks to get benefits posted in SNAP EBT accounts. These actions could lead to higher error rates, which will impact state cost share percentages in the future.

Read USDA’s justification sent to the courts as signed by Patrick Penn, which includes that in “October 2025, FNS used $450 million from the contingency fund for SNAP State agencies’ administrative expenses (SAE) and an additional $300 million for the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP) block grants for Puerto Rico and American Samoa.” And “For November, FNS will obligate $450 million from the contingency fund for SAE, and an additional $150 million for NAP in Puerto Rico and American Samoa” leaving “a total of $4.65 billion in the contingency fund for November SNAP benefits” (about 50% of the estimated amount needed to provide SNAP participants with full November benefits).

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In more positive news, WIC will be receiving an additional $450M from Section 32. Check out NWA's statement.

The National WIC Association shares: “While this is good news, we cannot stop the pressure! Under normal circumstances, $450M would give states about 3 weeks. But given the SNAP disruptions, WIC participation will likely go up and resources will deplete quickly. Once funding is dispersed, we'll know more where states are…”

Urge lawmakers and the Department of Agriculture to release SNAP contingency funds and to ensure no delays in hunger benefits during the government shutdown. Take action today!

There are 42 million Americans who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to feed their families who are at risk of seeing delays of their November benefits due to the current government shutdown. This comes as other essential hunger programs, such as the Women, Infants and Children’s Program (WIC), and free/reduced school meals are also set to run out of contingency funding due to the shutdown around the first week of November.

Through ELCA World Hunger and our congregational networks across the country, we witness daily the vital role SNAP and federal programs play in preventing hunger. Our food pantries, community meals and hunger relief organizing efforts complement but cannot replace these benefits. The families we serve – working parents, children, seniors and people with disabilities – are counting on these benefits to survive.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2025 Lapse of Funding Plan explicitly stated that SNAP operations should continue during a shutdown using contingency funding – before it was removed from the website in late October. Historically, both Republican and Democratic administrations have found ways to sustain SNAP and other hunger programs during government shutdowns, recognizing the significance of the program and that low-income families should not need to suffer due to political gridlock. Previously, the Trump administration this month worked to temporarily extend WIC benefits for several weeks with tariff revenue. Yet the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has left states in the dark and failed to release critical SNAP dollars.

Allowing hunger to deepen during a government shutdown is a policy choice and possibly a violation of law, not an inevitability. Please contact your members of Congress today, urging them to demand that USDA immediately release guidance to states, distribute contingency funding and ensure uninterrupted SNAP and hunger benefits for November and beyond. Congress should also negotiate and meet ASAP to end the government shutdown as soon as possible to avert additional harm to low-income families.

Let’s speak up for our neighbors in greatest need! Customize this message with your values and local experiences.

Just because the Government is shut down, and Congress is not in session, doesn’t mean your legislators can’t take calls and consider their decisions about the future of our country. As the House of Representatives aspires to schedule a late committee vote at the end of October, assuming they’re back in session, they need to know your thoughts and feelings!

What are you seeing in your community? You are encouraged to customize your message to reflect your own voice and values as you share your concerns with your legislators.

THANK YOU for your faithful advocacy!

CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS

Find my members of Congress here.

Read the Action Alert in the ELCA Advocacy Action Center.

Arizona Congressional Delegation