What is the next shutdown victim?
By Easton Martin | October 23, 2025
As the federal government shutdown stretches into its fourth week, millions of Americans face the possibility of losing access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits beginning November 1, 2025.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has informed state agencies that contingency funds will only cover October benefits, meaning November payments could be delayed or canceled if the shutdown continues.
Approximately 42 million Americans rely on SNAP to purchase food, making this disruption particularly serious. States including Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, and New Jersey have issued warnings about potential interruptions. In Texas, officials have stated that if the shutdown continues beyond October 27, November benefits will not be issued. Pennsylvania has already halted SNAP benefits for nearly two million recipients, and Illinois anticipates that nearly two million residents could lose their benefits starting November 1.
It’s time for politicians like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries to ask themselves, is it worth it? In their eyes, this is the best way to tie GOP hands on healthcare subsidies, but how many people must suffer in the meantime? It isn’t going to be GOP politicians who are hurt like the Democrats may think, it will be the millions of low-income Americans who are barely scraping by.
