When the USDA warned, “Bottom line: the well has run dry. There will be no benefits issued on November 1st at this time,” it sounded like the inevitable outcome government shutdown. But the line spread on top The department's website hides a deeper truth: the well did not dry up naturally. It was drained on purpose.
On November 1, millions of families who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (CLICK) have been stripped of their food benefits, leaving parents who plan meals to the dollar staring at empty grocery carts. Federal judge on Friday published a temporary restraining order preventing the administration from withholding food assistance, noting the “terror” it has caused to families who will continue to live in fear of losing their benefits under President Donald Trump's administration.
The cruelty seems sudden, but it is not at all accidental.
This moment was built brick by brick into Republican politics. The so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” passed earlier this year was hailed by Republicans as a model of fiscal responsibility. In fact it was a Trojan horse stuffed provisions designed to quietly sabotage SNAP, one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in the country.
For decades, the USDA has adjusted the Thrifty Meal Plan, the formula that determines SNAP benefit levels, to reflect how much it actually costs to eat. In 2021, after years of stagnation, the USDA finally modernized its plan. $1.40 benefit increase per person per day. This small increase helped families cope with rising food prices and better match benefits to actual nutritional needs.
New legislation from Trump and the Republican Party has stopped this progress. It limits USDA updates to once every five years and requires that any future changes be cost neutral. Translation: Benefits will no longer increase, even if food prices skyrocket. As inflation causes grocery bills to rise, the purchasing power of SNAP recipients will decline year after year. The result is institutionalized hunger.
The cruelty of the law does not end with benefit cuts. Starting in 2027, the federal government will reduce its share of SNAP's administrative costs from 50 percent to 25 percent, forcing states to cover the rest. Ten states, including California, New York and North Carolina, rely on county governments to administer SNAP. These counties serve 14.6 million people, or about a third of all participants. Almost in Alabama every seventh resident rely on SNAP to help them meet their basic needs.
This shift will devastate local budgets. States and counties will be forced to either raise taxes, cut services, or both. SNAP offices will be overwhelmed, resulting in longer application processing times and fewer resources needed to help families in the system. People won't just lose benefits due to budget cuts; they will lose them because the bureaucracy will collapse under its own weight.
And for immigrant families, the pain will be even greater. The “Big Beautiful Bill” would sharply limit immigrants' eligibility for SNAP, a move that doesn't save much money but sends a clear political message: Hunger is acceptable as long as it happens to the right people.
When the USDA says “the well is dry,” it's not just an accounting report. This is a moral issue. Republicans have spent years dismantling the mechanisms that keep Americans fed, and now when the system predictably fails, they shrug and call it a failure.
The closure is not the cause of the SNAP crisis; it was just a spark that exposed the dry kindling underneath. A big, beautiful bill laid the groundwork. It weakened the social safety net, shifted costs to the states, and ensured that when Washington shut down, hunger would spread fastest among those who could least afford it.
SNAP has never been a luxury. It is a promise that in the richest country on earth, no one should go hungry. This is one of the few government programs that works exactly as intended: simple, effective and saving lives. But this only works when legislators allow it.
Trump and Republicans call their bill “beautiful.” There's nothing great about forcing parents to choose between feeding their kids and paying the rent. There is nothing fiscally responsible about starving the system until it collapses. The Trump administration is telling the nation that the well has dried up for millions of families about to go hungry. But for ballrooms, billionaires and the corporations they control, there is an endless stream of special tax breaks and loopholes that keep their wealth skyrocketing.
The good news is that wells can be refilled. But first, voters must decide they've had enough of lawmakers calling cruelty a budget plan.
Kristen Crowell – Executive Director Fair Share in America.
