A critical food assistance program for millions of needy Americans will soon be halted and air traffic controllers will lose their paychecks this week as the government shutdown enters its fourth week, with all eyes on congressional lawmakers to see if the added pressure will be enough to push them to reach a deal.
The Department of Agriculture posted a notice on its website that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will not be issued on Nov. 1 amid the current government shutdown, saying, “Simply put, the well has run dry.”
SNAP, often called “food stamps,” serves approximately 42 million low-income Americans.
Traditionally, SNAP has been funded entirely by federal funds, but is administered by the states. That means the impact of the shutdown on SNAP and when benefits will begin to run out will vary by state.
Over the weekend, the Trump administration said it will not give a lifeline to SNAP funding and blamed Democrats for the current shutdown.
The SNAP benefits sign is seen on the door of the frozen food aisle of a grocery store in Queens, New York.
Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The Trump administration’s position that it cannot extend SNAP benefits during the shutdown is a change of the shutdown contingency plan stated by the USDA in late September, which said that “Congressional intent is evident that SNAP operations should continue as the program has received multi-year contingency funds that can be used for state administrative expenses to ensure that the state can also continue operations during a federal government shutdown.”
But in a new memo issued late last week and obtained by ABC News, the USDA said contingency funds are “only available” when SNAP funds have been approved by Congress.
Early in the shutdown, the Trump administration redirected other funds to pay service members. even when he says he can’t do the same with SNAP funds.
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks about the government shutdown, now in its 27th day, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 27, 2025.
Saúl Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson argued that contingency funding for SNAP “is not legally available at this time” to cover benefits and pleaded with Democrats to support the clean and continuing resolution to reopen the government.
“The reason is it’s a finite source of funding. It was appropriated by Congress, and if they transfer funds from these other sources, they immediately take them away from school meals… So… it’s a trade-off,” he said. “There has to be a prior allocation for the contingency fund to be used.”
Airline travelers are also feeling the effects of the shutdown.
Over the weekend, the Federal Aviation Administration was forced to slow air traffic in Chicago, Dallas, Southern California, Newark and other cities due to staffing issues. Some air traffic controllers reported that many are forced to work without pay during the closure.
Air traffic controllers will lose their first paycheck on Tuesday.
A view of the dome of the United States Capitol Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 19, 2025.
Kent Nishimura/Reuters
Another critical deadline on healthcare premiums is approaching. Democrats continue their fight for health care subsidies like November 1 The open enrollment date is approaching.
As the shutdown continues to impact Americans and key deadlines loom, all eyes are on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are still deadlocked.
On Monday, Johnson sharply criticized Democrats, saying The administration has worked “creatively” to limit “American pain.”
“We need five more Democrats in the Senate to do the right thing: wake up and say, ‘I’m going to say no to far-left Marxist pressure and do what’s right for the 42 million Americans in this country who depend on this essential nutritional assistance. Or am I going to starve my constituents? Or am I going to appease the Marxists?'” Johnson said.
It also does not appear that President Donald Trump is going to negotiate with the Democrats.
ABC News’ “This Week” co-host Martha Raddatz asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday whether Trump should meet with Democrats again. Bessent seemed to reject the idea of him doing that.
“Well, what’s the point, Martha? They dug in. The American people are hostage to Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries’ poll numbers because what has changed between now and the last time there was a clean, continuous resolution is that Chuck Schumer has tanked in the polls. The two Brooklyn boys, as I call them, are worried about getting elected by the left,” Bessent said.
Meanwhile, the president of the country’s largest union representing federal workers is calling on lawmakers to pass a short-term spending bill to end the shutdown.
“It’s time to pass a clean, continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures or cleverness. Get all federal workers back to work at full back pay, today,” American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley said in a statement.
AFGE represents more than 800,000 federal and DC government workers.
“It’s time for our leaders to start focusing on how to solve the problems of the American people, rather than who is to blame for a shutdown that Americans don’t like,” he added.
