Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins speaks at a press conference during the 31st day of the government shutdown in Washington on Oct. 31, 2025. Madalina

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), facing its first-ever funding lapse on Nov. 1 amid the ongoing government shutdown, is

None of this is normal. Food-stamp benefits have never been cut like this in the current program’s more-than-60-year history. “It is a significant inflection point in the program’s history,” Christopher Bosso, a political scientist at Northeastern University who wrote a book on SNAP, told me. “Where we go from here is anyone’s guess.”

The president has stretched the limits of his powers to help those at the heart of his agenda, not the many in greatest need.

Officials from half the states and the District of Columbia are asking a federal judge to order the Department of Agriculture to provide food stamp benefits for November.

Starting with the 2028 fiscal year, states with an error rate of higher than 6% will start losing federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. If the reform were to

Judges ordered the federal government use reserve funds to cover SNAP benefits during the shutdown, but the funding is limited and will be delayed.

The action comes two days after states sued the federal agency that administers SNAP benefits. Funds were set to stop flowing Saturday.

The GOP's refusal to fund food stamps during the shutdown shows how little the party cares about the economically vulnerable.