SNAP recipients say they're ready to scrimp amid food-stamp fight

A plan announced Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide partial food stamp benefits for November during the ongoing government shutdown could offer a measure of relief to millions of Americans. Yet the move still leaves participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the dark on exactly when they will get the funds.

In a declaration submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, Patrick Penn, a Department of Agriculture official who oversees SNAP, said $4.6 billion in contingency USDA funds will be used to cover 50% of SNAP recipients' benefits.

However, the USDA declaration said that procedural changes U.S. states must make in order to issue partial benefits could take "anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months."

It's unclear how long it will take some states to issue the benefits since this is an unprecedented situation, said Victoria Negus, a senior economic justice advocate at the nonprofit Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. The timing will depend on how fast states can adjust to issue partial SNAP benefits and relay that information to EBT vendors, she added.

"I would hope that states will move heaven and Earth to get SNAP benefits flowing as quickly as possible," she said.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey recently told CBS News that it could take days for SNAP cards to be loaded up again if the funds were to be released for use.

The USDA did not respond to a request for comment. The White House referred CBS News to the Office of Management and Budget, which also did not respond to a request for comment.

With questions continuing to swirl around the SNAP program, CBS News spoke with three people on food stamps about how losing access to the payments could affect them. They reside in states that have committed to sending emergency funds to local food banks to assist families enrolled in SNAP.

Buffalo, New York, resident Shatika Griffin, 45, said she relies on both SNAP and the Women, Infants and Children program, to support herself and seven children, including an 11-year-old son who is autistic.

"I'm a single mom, so it's very frightening," Griffin said of missing out on federal nutrition assistance. "All the kids know is, 'I'm hungry.'"

Griffin said she typically uses the $1,100 she gets in monthly SNAP benefits to pay for food staples she can stretch out for the month, such as spaghetti and canned goods. Without the money, she plans to turn to a local food bank.

Although her mother helps with child care, Griffin said her support network is limited. "Everything is falling on my shoulders," she told CBS News.

Baltimore, Md., resident Kelly Lennox has spent over 25 years working as a stagehand, building theater sets for arts groups including Artscape, an outdoor arts festival in Baltimore. For the last decade, she's also worked behind the scenes in film and TV as a studio mechanic.

In May of 2024, however, a hit-and-run accident required multiple surgeries and left the 64-year-old Lennox unable to work. Without a stable source of income, Lennox said she relies on SNAP, disability and Social Security retirement benefits to pay the bills. She plans to return to work as soon as she's physically capable, saying she needs a job to help cover her medical expenses.

"Because it was a hit-and-run, I have all these medical bills to pay," she said.

The $192 she gets in monthly food stamps helps her buy fresh produce at the farmer's market, Lennox said.

After learning that SNAP funding was under threat because of the shutdown, Lennox said she pulled back on buying food by conserving the remaining food stamps on her electronic benefits card. She currently has $240 in food stamp payments, but plans on visiting a local food bank to make ends meet.

"I'm going to have to make use of the pantries and work with their schedule, because if I use actual money for food, it takes away money I need to pay for my residential parking permit, gas and union dues," she told CBS News.

Kathleen Hurd, a 64-year-old resident of Detroit, is the main caregiver for her grandson and granddaughter and manages the family's SNAP benefits.

She receives roughly $390 in monthly food stamps, which Hurd said she uses to buy staples such as hamburgers, rice and potatoes. High food prices in recent years mean the payment is insufficient to cover the family's food budget, Hurd told CBS News, noting the demands of feeding her 15-year-old grandson.

With her SNAP payments temporarily suspended, Hurd said she's trying to take it day by day. "I'm really trying hard not to stress out about it," she said.

Hurd, who has arthritis and lupus, said she has used food banks in the past when money was tight. But more recently, long lines and her health issues have made it harder for her.

"Sitting in those lines is not something I can do anymore," she said.