U.S. News

Food Stamps Resume, but Millions May Soon Lose Access

By Jake Beardslee · November 16, 2025

Millions of Americans greeted the end of the 43-day government shutdown with relief as food stamp benefits resumed. But many are now learning that the reprieve will be temporary, with sweeping changes in Republicans’ tax and spending law poised to remove millions of people from the nation’s largest anti-hunger program.

During the shutdown, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins directed USDA staff to continue moving states toward compliance with the law. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that the reforms will eject millions from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the coming months — amounting to some of the most significant cuts to the social safety net in decades.

SNAP currently provides an average of $6 per day to nearly 42 million people, about 40 percent of whom are children. Under the new law, parents and older adults will face stricter work requirements, and states will eventually be required to share the cost of providing benefits, a shift that could lead to further reductions. Tens of thousands of legal immigrants are also set to lose access.

“The loss of SNAP ‘was really stark during the shutdown,’” said Dottie Rosenbaum, director of federal SNAP policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Politico reported. “But [the One Big Beautiful Bill Act] is the largest cut in the program’s history. That is also going to be really deeply felt.”

States have begun notifying participants that they will now be subject to tighter work rules, setting off a three-month countdown for compliance before benefits are removed entirely. Waivers in states with high unemployment, such as New York and California, are expected to slow the full effects. But many lawfully present immigrants, including refugees, have already been informed that they are no longer eligible for SNAP, effective immediately.

Rollins has also indicated she may require current recipients to reapply, adding new bureaucratic hurdles despite existing certification rules that already verify income and eligibility. States say federal guidance released during the shutdown has been difficult to interpret.

In California, where more than 5 million residents rely on SNAP, California Department of Social Services Director Jennifer Troia said the state is still working through the updates. “This is a priority for us,” Troia said. “We will move toward compliance with FNS guidance, while also balancing the need for accuracy and clarity.”

The cuts to food aid come alongside broader reductions to other safety net programs. Millions of low-income families are expected to lose Medicaid eligibility as stricter work requirements phase in. Republicans’ law bars certain legal immigrants, including refugees, from receiving Affordable Care Act subsidies, and the Trump administration is finalizing a public charge policy that advocates say will deter millions more from seeking federal assistance.

Food banks, already strained by nearly $1 billion in federal funding cuts earlier this year and the temporary lapse in SNAP during the shutdown, are struggling to meet rising needs. During the week of Oct. 27, food banks purchased 325 percent more food through Feeding America’s Grocery Purchase Program than during the same week last year.

With hundreds of thousands of immigrants expected to be cut from SNAP, refugee assistance organizations are expanding their food distribution operations. “We have a truck, we have a warehouse, and it made sense,” said Laura Thompson Osuri, executive director of Homes Not Borders, which supports newly arriving refugees in the Washington area. She said the law’s changes will affect about 20,000 refugees in the region, according to Politico.

But charities warn they cannot replace what will be lost. According to Feeding America, SNAP provides nine meals for every one offered by food banks.