NCLEJ Calls on USDA to Release Emergency Contingency Funds to Prevent Lapse in SNAP Benefits

Due to the ongoing government shutdown, and the USDA’s refusal to tap into its contingency funding, food stamp benefits for over 40 million people are set to lapse at the end of this week. And nearly 40% of them are children.  

NCLEJ is closely monitoring the situation for our low-income clients in states where we are actively litigating against ongoing SNAP delays, including New York, Alaska, Georgia and Missouri.  

In a shameful display of callousness toward the millions of families that rely on SNAP benefits to put food on the table, the Trump administration has signaled its willingness to allow this preventable emergency to jeopardize the well-being of Americans all across the country. NCLEJ joins SNAP advocates around the nation in urging the USDA to release their emergency contingency funds to prevent a lapse in SNAP benefits this November.  

This is an extremely precarious moment for the low-income communities that NCLEJ serves around the country. SNAP is an invaluable lifeline of economic support that helps tens of millions of people stave off severe hunger and poverty each year, and we are fighting every day for our clients’ rights to these life-saving resources. 

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