By Christopher Young,
Contributing Writer,
42 million Americans stood to lose their access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP — Nov. 1 (a judge ruled President Trump must enact usage of contingency funds), amid the ongoing federal government shutdown. SNAP aid is distributed to low-income people around the country in the form of food stamps. In California, the SNAP program is known as CalFresh. More than 5.5 million people, including one out of 8 children in the state, rely on CalFresh. California, as well as 30 other states, have said they cannot backfill the federal government’s cuts. 25 states, including California, are suing the federal government for the abrupt shut-off of SNAP benefits.
Longer term, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress earlier this year, would reduce the SNAP budget by $287 billion over the next decade. New work requirements have also been imposed, determining eligibility.
Sunita Sohrabji, Co-Producer of American Community Media’s National Briefing Series, moderated the discussion with four panelists and over 75 media outlets from around the globe. Jamie Bussel, Senior Program Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shared that “The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is a national health philanthropy based in Princeton, New Jersey, focused on a future where health is no longer the privilege for the few, but the right of all. And we know we cannot realize health and well-being for all if we have people going hungry in America. And although hunger is not a new challenge for us in this country, what is new is that beginning in November, the federal government was scheduled to cut off funding for one of the most critical food and nutrition programs we have in this nation called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often referred to as SNAP. Additionally, it is noteworthy to mention that there is also much uncertainty about yet another critically important public health and nutrition program called Women, Infants, and Children, otherwise known as the WIC program.
To provide a little bit of background, the federally funded benefits are used to purchase food. SNAP is our nation’s largest Anti-Hunger program dating back to the Great Depression, and it has never been disrupted in this way. Our families, children, seniors, and veterans are caught in this political gridlock. If funding for SNAP and WIC stop, we’re all going to feel it. Families will go hungry. This includes over 7 million babies and families who participate in the WIC program will not be able to access food, formula, breastfeeding support, etc. Local economies are going to suffer as well…food banks are likely to be overwhelmed. For every meal a food bank is able to provide, the SNAP program provides 9.”
In trying to answer questions about what people can do to help, Bussel suggested supporting local food banks, supporting local farms, connect with parent/teacher organizations, and volunteer as a grocery buddy – offering help to those around you.
Panelist Joseph Llobrera, with the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, shared “…the administration absolutely has the legal authority and responsibility to release SNAP benefits in November. Congress has already provided multi-year contingency funds for SNAP. ..the loss of benefits is a completely preventable outcome if the administration acts swiftly. This is a choice they are making. Families should not go hungry because of that choice. There are four ways that the reconciliation bill (One Big Beautiful Bill) takes food assistance away from people who need help affording food. First, it slashes federal funding for states’ SNAP programs. Second, it expands harsh and ineffective work requirements. Third, it denies food assistance to many people who are immigrants, living lawfully in the United States. Fourth, and finally, the bill cuts food benefits by preventing SNAP from keeping pace with the cost of a healthy diet, and increases paperwork for households to prove their other expenses.”
Panelist Gina Plato-Nino, FRAC, indicated “The majority of people on SNAP are children. But children don’t live alone, and the caretakers are just not making enough money. They’re making less than $1,100 a month and 70-80 percent of their income is going to shelter, leaving very limited amount for other basic needs…some states make it incredibly burdensome and difficult for families to be able to access this program. Most people receiving SNAP benefits, is due to job loss. We call these people working poor, and even 2-3 jobs aren’t enough to meet these basic needs. Even with employment, millions are faced with decisions like paying rent or buying food, or childcare vs. food?”
The final panelist, Eric Valladares, Executive Director of Family Connections, which provides free, high-quality early learning, family education and mental health services to low-income families with children from birth to age 5 in San Mateo County, California. He indicated that “Nearly 17 percent of the children that live in San Mateo County live in families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. We’ve seen a rise in fear, anxiety, and toxic stress among the caregivers we serve, and it’s driven by the uncertainty around benefits, housing, and immigration policies. This stress affects the parent-child relationships, caregivers are overwhelmed, they just don’t have the same capacity to respond to the many different needs that their children have. There is growing fear of sharing personal information, people worrying that receiving services could jeopardize their immigration status. On a positive note, I want to highlight that many of our donors are stepping up to help us meet the needs of those we serve, and San Mateo County is making emergency funding available as well.”
The entire weekly briefing can be found at https://americancommunitymedia.org/media-briefings/template-news-briefing. On November 3, 2025, Trump announced he would direct the Department of Agriculture to release partial November SNAP benefits, after being ordered by two courts to keep the program operational, per numerous media outlets.
The president announced via social media that he had a change of mind and would defy a judge’s order and not release any benefits until the “Radical Left Democrats open up the government.”
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