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5h ago

Shutdown Puts WIC Benefits at Risk Within Two Weeks

Limited federal stopgaps leave states to decide if they can keep WIC benefits going.

As a first-time mom, Nicole Echols found the counseling she received through WIC to be "priceless."
Sheila Epps plays with her granddaughter.
FILE - A worker stocks produce before the opening of a market in San Francisco, March 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
Grocery bags with food from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, sit in a shopping cart before being loaded into a vehicle in Jackson, Mississippi, on October. 3, 2013.

Overview

  • The USDA told state agencies they will not receive their quarterly fiscal 2026 WIC grants and said up to $150 million in contingency funds will be available.
  • The National WIC Association warns federal funds could be depleted in about one to two weeks if the shutdown continues.
  • WIC serves nearly 7 million pregnant women, infants and young children with groceries, breastfeeding support and nutrition counseling.
  • State responses vary: Connecticut pledged to cover benefits if federal money runs out, while Washington state says it lacks resources beyond roughly one to two weeks.
  • Longer‑term funding remains unresolved, with a House plan holding funding flat and cutting the fruit‑and‑vegetable benefit and a Senate plan providing $8.2 billion for the year.