USDA Quietly Deletes Its Contingency Plan for Funding SNAP

The U.S. Department of Agriculture had a plan to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program running during a government shutdown by using contingency funds — but the document laying out that plan has now disappeared from the agency’s website.

Those contingency funds are now at the center of a political and legal battle as benefits for approximately 42 million Americans are set to stop on Nov. 1.

In new guidance issued in October, USDA reversed course from its “lapse of funding” plan. Learn more about about what’s at stake for millions of Americans relying on SNAP.