Overview
- Federal officials told states SNAP disbursements may cease Saturday unless lawmakers end the funding lapse.
- More than two dozen Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., sued in Massachusetts to compel use of a $5 billion emergency fund to maintain benefits.
- States are mounting stopgaps, with California deploying the National Guard to bolster food banks and committing $80 million for emergency food assistance.
- Roughly 40–42 million people depend on SNAP, which costs about $8 billion per month and typically provides around $177–$187 per recipient.
- President Trump called for ending the Senate filibuster to pass a stopgap as the shutdown leaves about 750,000 federal workers furloughed and the CBO projects multibillion-dollar economic losses.