Democratic Senators in Congress joined together to send a letter to the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, requesting that the Department of Agriculture release the billions of dollars in contingency funds at its disposal to ensure that the benefits of the Program Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) benefits to continue in November.

The 46 senators raised the alarm about the USDA’s failure to use available funds to continue SNAP, urging the USDA to comply with the law by using available contingency funds for SNAP, according to a press release.

More than 40 million low-income Americans rely on SNAP benefits to help pay for food, which has become increasingly important amid skyrocketing food prices under President Trump.

The senators raised the alarm about the USDA’s failure to use available funds to continue SNAP, writing, “We were deeply shocked to learn that USDA has directed states to stop processing SNAP benefits for November and surprised by their recent comments that the program will run out of funds in two weeks. In fact, USDA has several tools in place that would allow states to continue SNAP benefits without any additional funding.” SNAP benefits are paid through or near the end of November.”

“Should more resources be needed than are available in contingency funds, the USDA should explore all legal avenues to increase funding and pay out SNAP benefits in full in November. Americans are already dealing with rising food prices and cannot afford a sudden stoppage of food assistance,” the senators continued.

“We urge you to immediately inform states and committees of jurisdiction of USDA’s plans to disburse contingency funds to state agencies and to use all available legal powers to ensure American families can receive benefits without interruption. Democrats remain at the table and ready to negotiate to reopen the government,” they said.

House Democrats also call for continued suspension of SNAP benefits

In a separate letter, House Democrats, like nearly all of their Senate counterparts and the Republican chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, urged Rollins not only to use the contingency fund, but also to reprogram other funds to cover a $3 billion shortfall.

“A potential interruption of benefits would affect Americans of all ages and in every corner and congressional district of the country,” the letter said from more than 200 House Democrats.

Agriculture Department will not redistribute funds to extend SNAP during government shutdown

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a memo Friday that the agency's contingency fund cannot legally be used to provide food assistance benefits to more than 42 million people in November while the government shutdown is extended.

This stance marks a change from the department's previous stance, according to a since-removed copy of the USDA's September 30 shutdown plan, which stated that the department would use its multi-year contingency fund to continue paying Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits during the shutdown.

SNAP has approximately $6 billion in the contingency fund, less than the approximately $9 billion needed to cover a full month of the SNAP program, which that jeopardizes November benefits.

Due to a congressional stalemate over the stopgap federal funding bill, the government shutdown began on October 1 with no new SNAP funding approved.

The memo, first reported by Axios on Friday, said states will not be reimbursed if they use their own funds to cover the cost of benefits.

House and Senate Democrats accused the USDA of “evading accountability” and ignoring its own shutdown funding plan, which was removed from its website and which indicated emergency funds could be used.