On Nov. 12, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history came to an end, and millions of families across the country regained access to services they had been without for over a month. One program in particular received significant attention during the shutdown: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
WHO BENEFITS FROM SNAP PROGRAMS — AND HOW?
SNAP is intended to support people who need it the most. More specifically, it gives more than 40 million people — including nearly 10 million Black children, seniors, people with disabilities, and other low-income individuals — access to healthy food. Most beneficiaries are young children, senior citizens, or individuals with a disability. Here is what you need to know:
People from across many races and ethnicities rely on SNAP. White people make up 35% of participants; Black people make up 26%, followed by Hispanic people at 16%, Asian people at 4%, and Native Americans at just over 1%. A small number of participants are categorized as multiracial (1%), or their race is unknown (17%).
Households receive, on average, a monthly benefit of $174 to $177 per person.
SNAP fights poverty and contributes to local economies, much in line with its original purpose of helping feed hungry people and supporting food producers and businesses. Indeed, data shows that households use their benefits to shop at over 250,000 local grocery stores and supermarkets, and that, in periods of economic downturn, SNAP benefits generate $1.54 in economic activity for every dollar spent.
For a state-by-state look into who benefits from SNAP, you can visit the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which published fact sheets for all 50 states in January 2025.
WHAT ARE SNAP WORK REQUIREMENTS? AND HOW DO THEY IMPACT BLACK COMMUNITIES?
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) made the biggest SNAP cuts in history, eliminating about 20% of the program’s funding between now and 2034. Since its passage, the act also requires states to either pay more for food assistance through tax increases, make spending cuts elsewhere in their budgets, or cut food assistance programs further. On top of this, the law also expands SNAP’s already existing work requirements, stripping exemptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth — and extending work requirements to older adults ages 55-64 and parents whose youngest child is at least 14 years old.
These expanded work requirements put millions of people at risk of losing at least some of their food assistance due to red tape, without helping them find living-wage jobs or supporting the agencies that must implement these new requirements. Under existing work requirements, most SNAP participants aged 18 to 54 can receive benefits for only three months in a three-year period unless they meet the standard 80-hour-per-month work requirement. Some households qualified for exemptions from this work requirement for various reasons.
In total, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the expansion of SNAP’s work requirement will cut off SNAP benefits for 2.4 million people. The OBBBA does not include an official implementation date for the new SNAP work requirement rules. States are currently awaiting federal guidance. Once there is an official implementation date, states will likely have 120 days to implement the changes. Considering the current difficulties facing the labor market, the policy is particularly concerning Black communities.
In August, the national unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, with the rate of unemployment for Black people sitting at 7.5%. Reports also show that over one in four working-age Americans have been unemployed for at least six months. Certain federal policy changes could also make it harder for people to find and keep jobs in the future. For example, on April 23, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies not to take action against policies and practices that have unjustified discriminatory effects. This legal framework has long served to identify and address discrimination embedded in the structures of employment, housing, education, and public policy. As a result, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is empowered to fight discrimination by private employers, plans to dismiss complaints of biased hiring, firing, or recruitment practices.
Black workers are disproportionately impacted by job discrimination, lower wages, and fewer opportunities, making it harder to find and keep good jobs even under normal economic conditions. Without intervention, these disparities may continue to widen, locking many people in the United States out of stable, long-term employment. This will have a significant impact on Black people’s ability to qualify for SNAP under new work requirements. Moreover, because Black workers are often the last hired and first fired, unemployment for Black workers is typically a bellwether for the economy as a whole.
HOW DID THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IMPACT SNAP – AND WHAT IS THE PROGRAM’S CURRENT STATUS?
Unfortunately, the SNAP program was also significantly impacted by the government shutdown, and many families and individuals across the country were at risk of going hungry. When the government shutdown began on Oct. 1, SNAP was not impacted because the federal government still had money available to pay benefits, and program participants received their benefits for the month. In past shutdowns, including a shutdown during the first Trump administration, when SNAP funds ran out, the federal government took steps to keep benefits flowing. However, toward the end of October, the current Trump administration announced that it would not use emergency funds to provide partial SNAP benefits if the government was not reopened by Nov. 1.
Soon after, a group of local governments, charitable and faith-based nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and workers’ rights organizations, along with 25 states, sued the administration. The states noted that “shutting off SNAP benefits will cause deterioration of public health and well-being ... The loss of SNAP benefits leads to food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition, which are associated with numerous negative health outcomes in children, such as poor concentration, decreased cognitive function, fatigue, depression, and behavioral problems.”
There was also a flurry of other legal activities and court decisions. Notably, on Nov. 6, a federal judge ordered the Trump Administration to fund SNAP benefits fully, and some states began planning to distribute them to program participants. However, the Trump administration immediately appealed the federal judge’s orders to fund the program, and its request was granted. The Supreme Court issued an emergency order temporarily blocking all SNAP payments on Nov. 7. The very next day, the Trump administration told states to deliver 65% of benefits and revoke any funding provided over that amount.
After 43 days, the government shutdown ended on Nov. 12. However, SNAP remains in an unfortunate limbo, and millions of Americans could lose their benefits due to new work requirements. Additionally, while reports indicate that benefits have been restored in full, the Trump administration has signaled that it will require people to clear a major administrative hurdle by reapplying to the program. To follow a more thorough timeline of the legal flurry surrounding the SNAP program, see this article from the New York Times.
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