Lauren Durie
Audio By Carbonatix
Update, 10/31-2025, 1:38 p.m.: A federal judge in Rhode Island has ordered the Trump administration to continue funding SNAP benefits. According to CNBC, a Department of Justice lawyer argued that the SNAP program would “not exist” after Oct. 31 without any congressionally appropriated funds, as the government shutdown has now reached 30 days.
But on Friday, Judge Jack McConnell ordered the federal government to use roughly $6 billion from a contingency fund to keep SNAP benefits from running out. The program serves over 450,000 people in North Texas and 42 million nationally. The New York Times reports that, in a separate case Friday afternoon, “Judge Indira Talwani, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, gave the administration until Monday to explain how it would fund benefits.” There’s no word on whether the administration intends to appeal either ruling. The administration has stated that restarting the program and distributing the emergency funds could take weeks, and the benefits for recipients would be significantly reduced, according to The Times.
Many thousands of North Texans are likely worrying where future meals will come from, as local food pantries scramble to feed as many mouths as they possibly can, while the government shutdown stretches on. The urgency has only been intensified following a statement from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcing that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will expire on Nov. 1.
“We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats,” reads the banner on top of the USDA’s website. “They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.”
SNAP, the rebranded name for food stamps, is a monthly stipend for low-income households loaded onto an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. There are limitations to what program members can purchase with their EBT cards, but still, 460,000 individuals are dependent on the program in North Texas, and $81 million cycles through the area because of SNAP benefits, says Clarissa Clarke, the government relations officer for the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB).
“We anticipate a big increase in demand for our partner agencies,” she said. “… Those funds will not come to those people, and they will have to make up for it somewhere. So we are working. We are committed to getting food and serving all of our partner agencies and everyone who needs food.”
The NTFB, along with similar food pantries, is preparing for a surge in demand. Clarke says they’ve been preparing for weeks, anticipating SNAP would be an impacted program if the shutdown continued long-term.
“We always plan ahead,” she said. “A potential government shutdown has become an annual event, so we already start planning for that ahead of time. We were able to order our USDA food in September through the end of the year, so that’s good.”
There’s never been a better time to donate time, money and resources. The NTFB is currently accepting monetary donations and seeking volunteers to help sort the pantry. Clarke says in times like these, it takes a village, but that’s never been a problem before. Large chain grocery stores, like H-E-B, have already donated millions to Texas food banks to cover the shortage.
“The community has always been really great about stepping up and helping us,” she said. “When they heard about the shutdown, they immediately did.”
However, Clarke notes that when grocery prices rise for everyone, they also increase for food banks. About 22% of the NTFB’s stock comes from SNAP benefits, 18% comes from the organization’s company budget, and the remaining half is donation-based. This year, the NTFB has already tapped its reserves to cover the rising costs of food resulting from inflation and tariffs.
“It’s pretty tough,” said Clarke. “It’s going to be pretty tight, but we are committed to serving all the neighbors.”
American Hunger’s History
The first of November will mark a full month of the shutdown, which was spurred by an impasse over a government spending bill. Few departments remain open, and few federal paychecks have been signed. Without any sign of stopping, the current shutdown is becoming one of the longest in American history.
“It’s just reprehensible that Republicans are refusing to come to DC to try to resolve this,” said North Texas Congresswoman Julie Johnson. “They’re willing to cut off people’s health care, put people in great peril of food insecurity and hunger so that they could maintain their tax cuts for the very few, and lick the boots of Donald Trump. It’s just morally wrong to me. I’m here in D.C., and I wish the Republicans would show up.”
In the last shutdown, which was also the longest and occurred during President Donald Trump’s first term, SNAP benefits remained intact. That is not the case in this shutdown. The program is a state-federal partnership, with states responsible for distributing the funds. Roughly 25 states have announced that they will continue to fund SNAP benefits from their own state budgets. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has not indicated he will use the state’s large rainy day fund to do so yet.
But Clarke and the team at NTFB are hopeful that elected officials will continue to advocate for those who could be facing hunger.
“We have been in communication with all of our elected officials about our concern,” she said. “Across the board, the reaction from both [parties] is also concern. They’re not taking it lightly. We’re working with them to look for ways to hopefully get around this. But we are definitely working on sourcing more food, getting more food, and seeing how we can get it best to those who need it.”
Johnson says the current situation is reminiscent of a bygone time.
“We learned as a country during that time, during the Great Depression, what hunger looks like and what a hungry people looks like,” she said. “At that time, it was the moral conscience of this country to never have that exist in this country again… that the American people shall not starve. Here we are, facing a shutdown. Trump and these Republicans are playing chicken with millions of Americans to go hungry.”
