Over the weekend, a closely watched deadline passed. Payment distributions under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP or food stamps, stopped because of the ongoing government shutdown.
Across the Lone Star State, food banks have been scrambling, anticipating a rush of demand. There have been calls for Texans to make donations of food and money, and calls for Gov. Greg Abbott to step in to allocate funds to help cover the shortfall.
But on Friday, two federal judges ruled that the Trump administration has to tap existing funds to keep the SNAP food assistance program running. And on Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the agency would tap into a contingency fund to allow states to issue partial SNAP payments during the shutdown.
Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said there is a federal law that is supposed to protect SNAP during shutdown.
“But it’s always a challenge in these moments when the budgets are in flux and the money pots are drying up,” he said. “And so that’s the challenge that the administration faces right now. And it’s a pretty serious political one.”
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Rottinghaus said federal courts do have the authority to order the Trump administration to use funding to pay for SNAP while the shutdown continues.
“The administration will fight back on it, which obviously is something the Trump administration wants to do,” he said. “But does, I think, produce for them a more challenging position politically. They can say that they’re fighting to end the shutdown and try to push it on Democrats when it looks like they’re trying to sustain it by not having to make these payments.”
Nationwide, Rottinghaus said polling shows that most people are blaming Republicans for SNAP funding expiring. And while it may seem crass to discuss politics while families are struggling to get food on the table, Rottinghaus said the political implications are what he expects to spur action.
“The polling suggests that more than 60% think the shutdown has been bad for Texas. That’s not a good position to be in if you’re Greg Abbott or Dan Patrick and you’re running for reelection,” he said. “You also can look at the polling that mirrors this in other states where there’s competitive Senate races. The Republicans have to hold the line in the Senate if they’re gonna be able to have traction.”
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Ultimately, Rottinghaus said the timeline of the shutdown depends more or less on President Trump and his wishes.
“If he indicates he wants to see a solution, then Republicans will move in that direction. Assuming they give the Democrats at least part of what they want, I think that’ll be pretty much the end of the shutdown,” he said. “
And I think looking at the numbers, it’s pretty clear that this is the way that it’s been going. And the last thing I think President Trump wants is for this to drag out and for Republicans to be blamed. They have other things they want to accomplish.”
Rottinghaus said he also expects to see political pressure mount as the shutdown is felt by more and more everyday Americans.
“The polling in Texas suggests that only about 66% of people have heard a lot about the federal government shutdown,” he said. “If you’re not flying and you don’t have needs from the government that are ongoing, then you probably aren’t as affected.
But I do think that the imagery of it and the leverage there politically is important because if it’s the case that Democrats can spin this in a way that makes it sound like Republicans can’t govern, then it does, I think, complicate their ability to put a coalition together.”
