In November 2025, due to the current government shutdown, SNAP benefits are being paid at roughly half the usual amount along with some possible delays. This will greatly affect around 41.7 million American households. Possibly even more because households that don’t benefit through SNAP also get affected through grocery prices and other economic factors. Most SNAP recipients are either too young to legally work or too old to physically work so they benefit them greatly each year. On the other end, many SNAP recipients do work they just may not make enough to support themselves or their families. Especially during the holidays, money can get tight and every person and family deserves to celebrate. These benefits make that possible each year for impoverished or financially strained households and taking that away could be detrimental. 

Currently the USDA has approximately only $4.6 billion in SNAP funds compared to a previous 8 billion for the program’s monthly costs. Not just the recipients get affected, more than 250,000 businesses that accept the SNAP benefits from customers will be losing a good amount of sales due to these SNAP families not being able to afford food or other necessities. 

Some states, like Florida and New Mexico, are issuing state-funded partial benefits while federal funding is unavailable. New Mexico is providing about 30% of the normal benefit amount, so eligible seniors and people with disabilities receive at least $100.