USDA says it can’t shuffle funds to extend food assistance during shutdown

Produce at a Virginia grocery store in 2011. (Photo by Lance Cheung/U.S. Department of Agriculture)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a memo Friday the agency’s contingency fund cannot legally be used to provide food assistance benefits for more than 42 million people in November, as the government shutdown drags on.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has about $6 billion in a multi-year contingency fund — short of the roughly $9 billion needed to cover a full month of the program, putting November benefits in jeopardy. 

Because of a stalemate in Congress over a stopgap spending bill, the government shut down on Oct. 1 without new SNAP funding enacted.

The agency also said states would not be reimbursed if they use their own funds to cover the cost of the benefits.

“There is no provision or allowance under current law for States to cover the cost of benefits and be reimbursed,” the unsigned memo says.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.