Will Food Stamps be Paid in November? What we know…

This is an update on the whole government shutdown food stamps saga. In this video, I will go through what we know about the whole thing and if food stamps will actually be paid out this month since you may have heard conflicting information. This will be useful to you if you are on food stamps. But even if you're not, you may still find it interesting cuz we're going to go through all of the politics on how the government works with this whole government shutdown thing. Hey financial warriors, welcome to the show. My name is Ben Hedges aka the credit shifu. On this channel, I cover US credit cards, personal finance, and booking travel with credit card points. Don't let the British accent fool you. I am in the US living in New York, and all of the information we cover on this channel is US-based. So, we did a video last week on what is happening in each state when federal money for food stamps, now called SNAP benefits, okay, supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits, or SNAP, dries up on November 1st due to the government shutdown. The USDA that pays food stamps through EBT cards says that they will not be able to issue new funds and that a $6 billion emergency fund that they have cannot be used since it is reserved for disaster situations, okay? Like perhaps hurricanes where more people start applying for food stamps. Late last week though, there was a ruling by two judges in separate cases against the government that the Trump administration must at least partially pay food stamps. And one of those judges even specifically said they must tap into these contingency funds to pay the SNAP benefits. But the issue with that is that the annual spending on the SNAP program is hundred billion. And the emergency fund at the USDA that we talked about just now is 6 billion which comes from a $3 billion amount from the annual budget that must be saved for 2 years which is where we get that 6 billion figure from. Some news outlets quote 5 billion. I think that just depends on how much of the budget has been saved at any one time. So, it's going to be between five and six billion. But that amount of money won't even cover one month's SNAP benefits. And if it were all used up, then there would be no money to deal with increased SNAP applications due to disasters that may happen. All right? Hopefully not, but they might. We are still in hurricane season after all, which although past its peak now, does technically run until November 30th. So, that's what the administration has argued. But the USDA has ruled in the past that the contingency reserve is available to pay benefits. So where are we now? Is the Trump administration going to follow the rulings of these two judges last week and going to pay out SNAP benefits? Well, no, not yet. Here is what Trump posted on Truth Social about this. Our government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies that we have available. And now two courts have issued conflicting opinions on what we can and cannot do. Okay. And he's saying that I think because one of the two judges on Friday did not say that they had to use the contingency fund whereas the other did, but they both said they had to at least partially pay SNAP benefits. He continues, I do not in all caps want Americans to go hungry just because the radical Democrats refused to do the right thing and reopen the government. Therefore, I have instructed our lawyers to ask the court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible. It is already delayed due to the Democrats keeping the government closed through the monthly payment date. And even if we get immediate guidance, it will unfortunately be delayed while states get the money out. If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the court, it will be my honor to provide the funding just like I did with the military and law enforcement pay. the Democrats should quit this charade where they hurt people for their own political reasons and reopen the government. He then gives you Chuck Schumer's number so you can leave him an angry voicemail. So from that, I think he genuinely does want to keep SNAP funding going, whether for compassionate reasons or for political reasons. That's another issue. I do think he wants to keep it going, but I think there are going to be delays. Okay, the whole government shutdown thing is like a game of chess between the Republicans and the Democrats. Each side wants the other side to appear responsible for the mess that has happened. And it makes each side look bad in different ways, but it does also have some benefits for each side as well, which makes it even more complicated. I'm guessing that the Democrats will vote to end the government shutdown after the elections, which are tomorrow. Okay, these are a variety of different local elections with the most high-profile being the New York City mayoral race in which Mandani, who is a Democratic socialist, is projected to win. So, the Democrats probably see the government shutdown as a positive for election turnout. Okay, Mandani wants to give you free stuff. Look, the Trump administration over there wants to withhold the free stuff. Vote Mandani. All right, that's kind of the vibe this is giving off. Then I'm guessing that after the election tomorrow, there will be a race to refund programs like SNAP and end the government shutdown with each side wanting to appear like the hero who ended the shutdown, restored your food stamps, and started paying air traffic controllers so we don't all crash during Thanksgiving travel. So, the Democrats may want to finally vote for the continuing resolution that they have been voting against since the shutdown started and reopen the government that way. Trump's most recent post on Truth Social was about ending the filibuster, where 60 votes are required in the Senate to end debate and pass a bill. Here's what he said. And this one's in all caps. Terminate the filibuster, not just for the shutdown, but for everything else. We will get all of our common sense policies approved. Voter ID anyone, and make America great again. Remember, the Democrats will do it immediately as soon as they get the chance. Our doing it will not give them the chance. Republicans, be tough and smart. The Dems are crazy. The Dems are crazy lunatics. They will not open God. I can't read this with a straight face. The Dems are crazed lunatics. They will not open our country no matter how many people are irreparably harmed. The funny thing is all it takes to end the rule requiring a 60% majority is just over a 50% majority in the Senate, which the Republicans have. Okay? They have 63 seats. Even if they had just 50, the vice president can cast a tie-breaking vote to make it 51. So it sounds almost comical. All right? You already have over 50%, yet you have a rule that you imposed on yourself that says you need 60%, but you could end with your 50% and then you only need 50%. Any sane person would have ended this long ago. But this is politics. Okay. Republicans who support not ending it cite the fact that when Democrats come in next, okay, if they get control of the Senate in the future, uh it can limit what they can do. But the Democrats, if they have a 50% majority, they could just immediately end it anyway, which I think they will do. And actually, that's what Trump argued in that truth social post just now. So Trump's kind of opposing those Republicans who are opposed to ending it. So, you know, I think probably the Democrats would end it when they come in next time since there's really no mutual respect anymore between the parties. I think they're just fighting with gloves off now. So, they probably would do it if they get control of the Senate after next year's midterms, for example. Um, so in my opinion, the Republicans should just end the filibuster, reopen the government, and pay the SNAP benefits. And then the whole thing about senators speaking on the floor for 24 hours to keep debate going, peeing their pants, uh, will be no more. Okay, we'll be saved. All that headache. I do think the government will be reopened one way or another later this week or maybe next week. So, SNAP benefits will probably flow this month, but with a delay. All right, it's going to be delayed no matter what. In the meantime, though, some states have been doing things to pay benefits temporarily. So, for example, Virginia is actually using state funds to pay SNAP benefits. And other states have put millions of dollars into food banks that SNAP recipients are eligible to use. Uh, you can watch my video from last week. It looks like that. It goes through many of the biggest states and some other states that are doing special programs to pay SNAP benefits. You can find out what is happening in your state. That video is on screen now. Please subscribe to our channel if you're new, and we'll see you next time. Bye-bye.