Baldwin, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Fund SNAP While Trump Administration Illegally Withholds Funding
The Trump administration is required by law to use billions in available funding to keep SNAP benefits flowing in November; USDA’s own guidance confirmed its authority to use available funds during a shutdown
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and her colleagues introduced legislation to ensure there is not a disruption in vital food assistance for 42 million Americans while the Trump administration illegally withholds available funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Baldwin and her colleagues pushed for expedited passage of the bill, the Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025, to ensure that SNAP recipients are not cut off from their food assistance come November 1st, but Senate Republicans blocked the measure.
“Food isn’t a ‘nice to have,’ it’s a necessity. FoodShare helps hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites make sure their kids are fed and families have food in the fridge,” said Senator Baldwin. “Right now, that security is all on the line because Donald Trump is choosing not to follow the law and not use money sitting in a bank account to help families. Well, if Donald Trump won’t act, Congress needs to. Our bill makes sure this much-needed assistance gets out the door, so no child, no veteran, and no senior goes hungry because of Washington politics at its worst.”
Despite having billions of dollars available in emergency funding to pay for SNAP and being legally mandated to fund the program, the Trump administration is refusing to do so. In fact, the Trump administration’s United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers SNAP funding, had a shutdown plan on its website explicitly stating that it can use emergency funds for the program during a shutdown.
The Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025 directs the USDA to immediately release billions of dollars in available funds to ensure SNAP and WIC benefits continue uninterrupted for the remainder of this fiscal year. The legislation also requires the federal government to reimburse states for covering SNAP benefits during a shutdown.
In Wisconsin alone, approximately 700,000 people are at risk of losing their food assistance benefits if the USDA does not utilize available funding to continue the program. Of those receiving assistance, 270,000 are children and 108,000 are senior citizens. Additionally, every Wisconsin Republican in Congress voted earlier this year for the largest cut to the SNAP program in history.
The legislation is led by Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and was co-sponsored by the entire Senate Democratic Caucus.
The full text of the legislation is available here.
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