USDA announces that no SNAP benefits will go out on November 1

By Autumn Shelton, RealWV

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has posted a statement on their website that there will be no Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits issued on November 1. 

The complete statement is as follows: 

“Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. 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.”

Last week the West Virginia Department of Human Services (DoHS) announced a possible delay in benefits for the roughly 273,566 persons in the state who receive SNAP due to the government shutdown, which began on October 1. 

On October 23, Governor Patrick Morrisey announced that $1.1 million of appropriated and emergency funding will be distributed to West Virginia food banks as a result of the anticipated loss of SNAP benefits, and that further plans are being reviewed including “coordinating with volunteer groups and deploying additional resources where necessary.”

“While vulnerable West Virginians are being held hostage by Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats, we are going to put over a million dollars into the hands of food banks as they prepare for the fallout,” said Governor Morrisey. “We’re being proactive and making some early moves to make sure our state is prepared, but a simple solution is for Senate Democrats to pass a clean, bipartisan funding extension and reopen the government.”

On Friday, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said that the blame for the government shutdown falls on President Donald Trump and Republicans, arguing that they are able to find money to send $40 billion to bail out Argentina and tear down the East Wing of the White House, but can’t find money to help Americans who need healthcare. 

“The Trump administration has the resources now, including through an emergency contingency fund, that has about $5 billion in it, to ensure that not a single American goes hungry if they refuse to reopen the government on Nov. 1,” Jeffries said, adding the the Trump administration is trying to “weaponize hunger” to “jam their extreme right-wing policies down the throats of the American people.”

SNAP benefits, formerly the food stamp program, helps those in low-income households purchase groceries.As of May 2025, according to data from the USDA, there are 273,566 persons in West Virginia receiving SNAP benefits amounting to $45,886,908 per month, or about $168 per person per month in benefits.