Late Wednesday, legislators reached an accord to reopen the federal government, passing a bill that temporarily ends the longest shutdown in history and funds federal programs until at least Jan. 30, 2026.
Though the agreement is temporary, it is expected to restart payroll for furloughed federal employees within days and resume suspended programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
(You can read more about how federal government agencies and programs are rebounding following the shutdown in this article from NPR.)
The exact timeframe of restoring SNAP benefits is unclear, but Thursday afternoon the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, said: “State agencies must take immediate steps to ensure households receive their full November allotments promptly.”
The Trump administration announced it would cease funding SNAP beginning Nov. 1. Since that time, states have scrambled to provide for individuals and families using the program.
From Oct. 28: Federal government shutdown strains local food network and is likely to get worse — here’s what to know and how you can help
In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin launched the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance program (VENA) to temporarily cover the gap left by missing SNAP benefits. The state began issuing weekly payments in early November, with each round costing taxpayers an estimated $37.5 million, according to the governor’s office.
But before the second week’s payments went out, the federal government — under court pressure — announced it would restore about 65% of normal SNAP funding for the month.
“As of today, 65% of the SNAP benefit is supposed to be paid out, and we do have recipients who have received the benefit,” Leon Henry, the director of Charlottesville’s Department of Social Services, told Charlottesville Tomorrow on Thursday. “I know that this week, VENA payments weren’t sent out, but they were sent out the week before. So, in some cases, individuals would have gotten the 65% from today and the 25% from VENA, which would be 90%. But not everyone received the VENA payments.”
Back pay due to essential government workers who have gone 43 days without paychecks will likely be forthcoming within a few days, according to officials.
The latest funding package ends the shutdown and restores many programs, but it stops short of providing certainty for more than a few months. Most of the government is now funded only through Jan. 30, though some areas — including the USDA’s food assistance programs like SNAP — received full-year appropriations extending through the fiscal year.
That means SNAP and a few other programs are safe regardless of what happens in the next few months. But the looming threat of another government shutdown remains should lawmakers fail to reach broad agreement by Jan. 30. Those agreements include full-year spending levels for all the unfunded departments, including Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, Justice, Interior and others.
We’ll be following this issue closely in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, I hope this news brings at least temporary relief to folks affected by this historic event.
As our Managing Editor Akash Sinha would say:
Stay safe and take care of each other,
Jessie Higgins, Democracy Editor
