A person receiving groceries at a Miami food bank. Credit: Getty Images While there are seemingly no winners when the government shuts down, this time around, millions of Americans are losing big… losing food, losing paychecks, losing benefits, losing security, and losing hope.
They are pawns in a game of political brinksmanship. You can't even label them collateral damage because that would imply that what is happening to them is unintentional. It is not. The president fully intends to inflict harm on tens of millions of Americans to notch a win.
The Hungry
Nearly 42 million Americans receive food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Originally called food stamps, it's a program that's been around for decades. I was covering the White House in 1964 when President Lyndon Johnson signed the measure into law as part of the War on Poverty.
Last week, the Department of Agriculture said it will withhold money earmarked by Congress to pay for SNAP during the shutdown, the first time emergency funds have not been released in such a case.
Even though the USDA is legally required to fund the program, the president is holding the money hostage. You are reading that correctly. He is withholding food assistance from some of the most vulnerable Americans, more than 16 million of whom are children, in a political ploy to push the Democrats to fold.
One of those Democrats, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, called him out. "This is perhaps the most cruel and unlawful offense the Trump administration has perpetrated yet — freezing funding already enacted into law to feed hungry Americans while he shovels tens of billions of dollars out the door to Argentina and into his ballroom," she said.
Democratic Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow did not hold back when encouraging her fellow senators to vote to temporarily fund SNAP. "The Trump administration and the Republicans supporting him are using food as a political weapon. This is a choice… They are choosing to let children go hungry. We will not stand for that choice," she said.
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Even if state governments like Michigan's have the money to fund the program for the duration of the shutdown, the USDA has said they will not be reimbursed.
An end to the shutdown won't even mean a return to normal funding levels for SNAP. The $186 billion cut to SNAP, outlined in the president's July spending bill, will go into effect as soon as the government reopens.
For many households, SNAP is not a cushion, it's a lifeline. When that lifeline is cut, the ripple effects can be immediate and profound. And it's not just low-income families at risk, the knock-on effect of canceled or reduced benefits could echo throughout the economy.
SNAP dollars help feed more than 40 million people, which in turn supports farmers, truck drivers, and grocery store workers. When those funds stop flowing, small businesses in low-income neighborhoods often take the first hit.
Twenty-three Democratic state attorneys general have sued the USDA to release the money. On Thursday, the U.S. District Court judge hearing the case said she will likely order the administration to send the emergency SNAP funds to the states, which administer the program. The contingency funding is enough to keep the program solvent for two and a half weeks, but getting the money to recipients will take a few days.
Federal Workers
730,000 federal employees are working without pay, and an additional 670,000 have been furloughed without pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Normally, they all would receive back pay when the shutdown inevitably ends. But as we know, there is nothing normal about this administration. The president has said that federal workers may not get back pay, even though, by law, that is not his call to make.
Some cherry-picked segments of the federal workforce are getting paid: active duty military, immigration enforcement agents, and other law enforcement agents.
Billionaire and Trump financial backer Timothy Mellon has donated $130 million to the federal government — apparently, a new Trump loyalty test — to pay the 1.3 million members of the military. That sounds like and is a lot of money, but it works out to just $100 per service member. So what is Mellon hoping to get for his largess other than some positive press?
And of course, members of Congress are still getting a paycheck, even though the House hasn't been in session since Speaker Mike Johnson, who earns $223,500 a year, sent them home weeks ago.
Things are becoming dire for the federal employees, who have now gone without a paycheck for a month. Eligibility for assistance like unemployment is not guaranteed and varies by state.
In communities with large federal workforces, food banks have been hastily set up. Airlines have started buying lunch for air traffic controllers, who are working without a paycheck. In California, the governor has deployed the National Guard to help food banks as they brace for increased demand.
Anyone With Health Insurance
The fight over extending Covid-era subsidies for Obamacare is shining a spotlight on a growing problem: the staggeringly high cost of health insurance in America. The United States has the most expensive healthcare system in the developed world and the only country without universal healthcare, according to the World Health Organization.
Employer-provided insurance is the most popular, covering 154 million, or 54% of people with insurance. Public insurance, which includes Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans Health Care, accounts for about 36%. Ten percent get insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Eight percent of Americans are uninsured, an historic low.
If federal subsidies for insurance purchased through the Affordable Care Act are not extended, premiums will skyrocket, in some cases doubling, even tripling. But the elimination of subsidies is only part of the reason for the rise in premiums.
Anyone who pays for health insurance in America will see premiums jump in 2026. The increase, the biggest in 15 years, is expected to be as high as 9% in some cases, according to Mercer, a benefits consultancy.
An analysis by the Los Angeles Times found that because of the increases, insurance for a family of four in 2026 will cost $27,000, or the price of a new Toyota Corolla. Higher premiums will mean some people will either opt for cheaper coverage or no coverage at all, driving up premiums even further.
The White House refuses to come to the negotiating table unless Democrats agree to open the government first. Someone might want to tell the president that's not how negotiating works. Meanwhile, he and his posse of congressional enablers are losing the battle of public opinion. In a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, 45% of respondents blame the president and the Republicans, while 33% blame Democrats.
We are beyond finger pointing. In these trying times, those looking for something positive to do, here's a way. Consider donating to your local food pantry or volunteering with an organization like Feeding America or Meals on Wheels. If you need assistance the Feeding America website allows you to search for local food banks. Good-hearted Americans will continue to step up.
What should not get lost in all the scare tactics and the political paralysis in Washington is that tens of millions of people go hungry every day in America, the richest country in the world. And that is before the shutdown and callous political maneuvering. The small help some of them get, an average of $190 a month, is being weaponized by a billionaire.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
