A large cross-section of Americans is at risk of falling below the poverty line as the program that provided more than 32 million people with extra SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits during the pandemic is set to end. Families received at least $95 extra per month to spend on food.
In place since 2020, it provided an emergency allotment of benefits as an unprecedented number of people faced added financial hardship as COVID-19 spread. Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act at the end of 2022, which concludes the expanded program in February. The change comes as food prices have continued to skyrocket at grocery stores.
During the pandemic, nearly 4.2 million Americans were able to stay above the poverty line with the additional aid at the end of 2021, according to a study conducted by the Urban Institute, with poverty reduced by 9.6 percent in states with the SNAP expansion. But in states where the program has already ended, there have been reports of people struggling to buy necessary food items.
"The emergency allotments were always intended to be temporary and they did tremendous good during a very difficult time in our country," Stacy Dean, USDA deputy undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, told the Associated Press.
Older Americans on social security will feel the reduction in SNAP funds particularly hard as a recent 8.7 percent cost of living adjustment will be unlikely to offset the loss of the benefits.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
