The Trump administration has stated that millions of low-income Americans will receive their full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits within a day of President Donald Trump signing the shutdown-ending deal into law.
USDA To Resume SNAP As Secretary Rollins Sounds Alarm
The administration has assured that once the government reopens, most states will receive the funds to distribute benefits “within 24 hours,” reported Politico, citing a statement by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) spokesperson Alec Varsamis on Wednesday.
If approved, the deal would return the SNAP—the nation's largest anti-hunger initiative—to its original funding levels.
USDA did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment.
Meanwhile, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins on Wednesday said that SNAP fraud was out of control and that taxpaying Americans were paying the price.
She noted that, in the 29 states out of 50 that had shared their data, there were already well over half a million cases of fraud. Rollins also questioned why the other 21 states were suing for being asked to provide data and wondered what they might be hiding.
Shutdown Ends Officially
The U.S. government's longest-ever shutdown officially ended after 42 days when Trump signed a short-term funding bill to reopen federal agencies. Calling it an "honor" to restore operations, Trump blamed Democrats for the crisis, labeling it a "short-term disaster," and urged the nation to "get our country working again.
Resuming SNAP payments would bring relief to nearly 42 million Americans who faced major disruptions to their benefits during the record 42-day shutdown. The program's first-ever lapse on Nov. 1 saw the coalition of over two dozen states filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration for restoring SNAP benefits during the shutdown. Following that, the Supreme Court extended a short-term order allowing the Trump administration to withhold full food stamp payments for November.
Earlier, Propel, a fintech company backed by JPMorgan Chase, had launched an emergency fund to provide direct cash assistance to families affected by the government shutdown’s disruption of $8 billion in monthly SNAP payments. Also, ten senators, including one Democrat, had joined hands with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), proposing a bill to fund SNAP until the government shutdown was resolved.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
