(NEXSTAR) – As the clock ticks down toward a potential partial shutdown of the federal government this week, millions who rely on federal assistance for food could be left in the balance.
If Congress fails to reach a deal to fund the government, a partial government shutdown would be triggered on March 1. That partial shutdown would impact several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which manages SNAP and WIC food assistance.
Impact on SNAP food stamps
SNAP, which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, used to be called the Food Stamp Program. The program helps low-income and no-income families buy groceries by loading up a monthly benefit allowance onto an EBT card.
Because of the way SNAP is funded, the impact of a government shutdown wouldn’t be felt right away, a USDA spokesperson told Nexstar. Each month’s benefits are issued the month prior, so people would receive their benefits as normal in March even if Congress can’t reach a deal by the first of the month.
If the shutdown drags on longer than a month, there is reserve funding that should allow SNAP to keep operating for a while, but delays and issues might arise if USDA employees who run the program are furloughed, explains the Food Research & Action Center.
Impact on WIC benefits
When it comes to WIC, which refers to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, the situation is a bit different. WIC provides food assistance to low-income pregnant women, new mothers, and their babies and young children. The program is facing a $1 billion budget shortfall.
WIC has enough money to keep offering aid for a short time under a government shutdown, but that could quickly run out, explained Safa Hamad, who oversees the WIC program in Wake County, North Carolina.
When WIC doesn’t have enough money to help everyone who qualifies, the program prioritizes pregnant women, breastfeeding women and infants with nutritional issues like anemia or pre-term birth. If there’s enough funding to help them, WIC will offer assistance to the next priority tier, which includes infants under 6 months who have nutrition-related medical issues. (See all seven priority tiers here.)
Hamad told Nexstar’s WNCN that when there’s not enough funding, people in lower priority tiers get put on waitlists.
“What I’m most concerned about is that we’re going to have to turn people away,” she said. “So, even toddlers will be put on waitlists.”
While funding for WIC is a point of contention in the current negotiations, a continuing resolution could avert a funding lapse even if the government shuts down, a USDA spokesperson said. A continuing resolution is a temporary spending plan that allows the government to keep running as normal while lawmakers continue to debate a final budget.
A shutdown’s impact on federal agencies
While some USDA benefits continue and others won’t, the fate is clearer for the agency’s employees under a government shutdown. “The Federal government is currently not allowed to spend money effective 12:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 2, 2024,” reads an FAQ for department employees.
“Most USDA employees will be placed on furlough,” the FAQ continues, at which point they will not be allowed to work except to help with shutting down operations. They won’t be paid for their furloughed time until the government is funded again.
If Congressional leaders don’t come to an agreement soon, government funding for agriculture, transportation, military construction and some veterans’ services expires Friday. Funding for the rest of the government, including the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department, expires a week later, on March 8.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.