Millions may lose food stamp benefits if shutdown continues, states warn

Millions of Americans are at risk of losing food stamp benefits before the end of this month if the government shutdown continues, officials in several states have warned, signaling further financial stress for lower-income families already facing slashed federal food program budgets and rising food costs.

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State warnings

Officials from several state offices and agencies have issued warnings in recent days that large swaths of people may lose benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, by November due to an inability to access federal funds.

Instituted in 1939, SNAP provides food assistance to lower-income families to supplement their grocery budget to maintain adequate nutrition and health. First distributed as food stamps, it changed to a debit cardlike system years ago.

New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri and Minnesota are among the states where officials have issued warnings in recent days. Some have said November SNAP benefits will be disrupted or not issued at all if the shutdown continues past Oct. 27. Others — including Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Illinois — have outright said that November benefits will not be paid.

“You’re talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families — of hungry families — that are not going to have access to these programs because of this shutdown,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins warned last week.

SNAP benefits are fully funded by the federal government, though the Republican-led One Big Beautiful Bill has laid out a plan for some states to begin sharing a portion of the costs starting in the 2028 fiscal year. The move sparked widespread criticism from Democrats and advocacy groups, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that it would decrease household resources for lower-income families. The bill’s passing in July marked the largest cut to the U.S. safety net in decades.

Under SNAP, supplemental funds for food and groceries are distributed through an Electronic Benefits Transfer — or EBT — card each month. The amount allotted depends largely on household income, and all eligible recipients have to meet a certain low-income threshold informed by federal poverty guidelines.

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‘Devastating impact’

More than 42 million people receive SNAP benefits, according to government data from August. In 2024, about 12.3% of U.S. residents received them.

SNAP benefits are unlikely to cover a household’s entire monthly food budget, though they certainly make a difference for lower-income families. The average SNAP benefit in Fiscal Year 2023 was around $332 a month per household, or $177 per person, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service said earlier this year. For an average SNAP recipient, that is less than $6 in food assistance per day.

“SNAP is the largest and most effective hunger prevention program in the country,” Barbara C. Guinn, the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance commissioner, said in a release. “To permit monthly benefits to halt would be unprecedented and have an immediate and devastating impact,” she added.

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Rising food costs

Food prices in the United States have been rising faster than the pace of overall inflation, whether at the supermarket or in restaurants, according to the consumer price index released by the USDA Economic Research Service.

“In 2025, overall food prices are anticipated to rise faster than the historical average rate of growth,” the CPI projected in September.

The CPI for all food increased 0.4% from July to August 2025, and food prices in August 2025 were 3.2% higher than in August 2024. Food insecurity in the country has also been on the rise.

Anecdotally, U.S. families appear to be feeling the uptick in prices; in a survey conducted by Pew Research earlier this year, 9 in 10 respondents said that healthy food has become more expensive for them, and nearly 70% said they feel it has made it more difficult for them to eat healthy.