JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Not that it isn't bad already, but soon the impacts of the government shutdown could get notably worse. A bunch of federal programs are set to run out of money at the start of next month, and the start of next month is Saturday.
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MIKE JOHNSON: As we near the end of this month, the pain being felt by so many hardworking people around this country is very real, and it gets worse with each passing day.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
House Speaker Mike Johnson once again blamed Democrats for the shutdown today. Democrats continue to insist on passing legislation to extend federal subsidies for the Affordable Care Act health insurance plans. Republicans insist on funding the government before negotiating on that.
SUMMERS: Meanwhile, more than 130 Head Start programs across the country would lose federal money after Friday. Head Start funds free services for children under the age of 6. The Essential Air Service, which subsidizes air travel to small and often rural communities, is also funded only through this month.
CHANG: And then there's nutritional assistance programs. That includes SNAP benefits - formerly known as food stamps - which serve about 1 in 8 U.S. residents, and WIC, which serves low-income women, infants and children.
SUMMERS: The Trump administration moved money from other programs to extend WIC benefits, but only through this month. It now says it won't use a contingency fund to make the next round of SNAP payments in November. NPR's Stephen Fowler is here with more on that story. Hi there.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hey there.
SUMMERS: So Stephen, let's just start by talking about SNAP. Now, we do not expect that benefits will go out later this week. Why is that?
FOWLER: Well, SNAP is a mandatory benefit program, but it's funded yearly through the annual appropriations process. The federal government sends money to states, the states distribute benefits to eligible residents, which receive an average of just $200 a month per person. And that's nearly 42 million people we're talking about who receive SNAP benefits, which cost the government about $8 billion a month for those benefits plus administrative costs.
The shutdown means appropriations lapsed at the end of last fiscal year on September 30. And basically, there is no new account that has been created for this fiscal year and no money to be put into it. Congress has set aside some SNAP money in contingency funds that are available to be used this fiscal year, totaling about $6 billion, but the Trump administration says it won't be using that money or transfer any money into those accounts to cover benefits next month.
SUMMERS: Well, what reason does the Trump administration give for that decision?
FOWLER: There was an unsigned USDA memo that was circulated Friday that argues it's illegal to use contingency funds to cover benefits, arguing that they are, quote, "only available to supplement regular monthly benefits when amounts have been appropriated for, but are insufficient to cover, benefits." Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy for the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said that Congress was pretty explicit that's exactly what it should be used for.
BOBBY KOGAN: If you have an entitlement to something and you have money that can fill that use, then you must fill that use.
FOWLER: And for what it's worth, the USDA lapse plan noted that congressional intent is evident that SNAP's operations should continue in the case of a shutdown, citing these multiyear contingency funds and that that plan has been removed from the USDA website.
SUMMERS: OK. So how is SNAP funding different than what the White House did to bring over tariff revenue to fund WIC, which is a similar program?
FOWLER: Let's put on the wonk glasses here.
SUMMERS: OK.
FOWLER: According to federal budget documents, the Trump administration transferred the $300 million for WIC from a state child nutrition program's account that's funded in part by a portion of customs duties collected the previous calendar year. These so-called Section 32 funds are separate from the increased revenue generated from sweeping tariffs imposed by President Trump in recent months. The Trump administration said transferring any money from this $23 billion pool of funds to support SNAP would jeopardize money for school meals and infant formula.
SUMMERS: Now, President Trump did order the Defense Department to move money to pay active-duty military members. I mean, that was an active choice to make things happen, right?
FOWLER: Many experts I spoke with say that choice is illegal. Just like a new SNAP benefits account hasn't been created because there isn't a new fiscal year appropriation, they say the same applies to accounts to pay military personnel. Instead, the Trump administration says it used extra leftover research and development funds to cover those paychecks because that money has a, quote, "reasonable, logical relationship" to military pay.
Kogan, with the Center for American Progress, says that still violates the law for two reasons. One, it spends paycheck money that the government didn't have, and two, spends research money for a purpose that Congress did not authorize. Another budget expert I spoke with, Devin O'Connor with the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, agreed and said even with the Trump administration's efforts to shore up funding for some programs...
DEVIN O'CONNOR: The government is not meant to shut down. And when you shut down the government, bad things happen. And the longer the government is shut down, the more bad things will happen.
SUMMERS: So Stephen, I was just on the USDA website, and right now, there's a banner on it, and it blames Democrats for the shutdown and for the impending loss of these SNAP benefits. And I know that you have been tracking really closely the political messaging around this shutdown. Help us understand what's going on there.
FOWLER: It is important to note, Juana, that it has been a priority of Trump in both his first term and now to cut the SNAP program. In fact, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill passed earlier this year has some of the largest ever reductions to SNAP. And almost everything the White House has done during the shutdown has been focused on blaming Democrats, targeting programs and places they feel disproportionately impact Democrats, and this is no different.
SUMMERS: NPR's Stephen Fowler, thank you.
FOWLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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