On Nov. 1, the Trump Administration made the executive decision to cut funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program in half, due to the ongoing government shutdown. This will lead to delays in the dispensal of funds to families reliant on SNAP across the United States.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) requires eight billion dollars worth of funding monthly. According to National Public Radio, SNAP benefits an average of 41.7 million participants per month or 1 in 8 Americans. Previously, SNAP was funded through the United States Department of Agriculture, but was warned they would not receive funds in November, with the Trump Administration now funds half of the income for qualifying families for November. While SNAP has an emergency fund of $4.65 billion dollars, it is not enough to keep it running to its full capacity for even a month.

According to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program website, SNAP is a government run organization with the purpose of feeding and providing money for food for low-income families. SNAP supplies an average of $190 for individuals who qualify for SNAP. Due to the surprise lack of resources, United States states are delaying the delivery of SNAP funds to families so they can distribute them evenly among everyone, leaving families dependent on SNAP without food.

According to CNN, without SNAP benefits there is not enough state income to compensate for the millions of people reliant on SNAP. For example, Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, the state association of food banks, said more than 3.5 million Texans receive food stamps.

“The shutdown adds another layer of strain to an already stretched emergency food system,” Cole said in CNN article.