On November 1st, 42 million Americans were left without food assistance because Donald Trump decided to illegally withhold SNAP funds after making the largest cut to the program in history. However, today, in response to a court ruling ordering SNAP benefits to be paid, the Trump administration said that it would cover only 50% of “current allotments” for SNAP, meaning working families will struggle to put food on the table. Trump is using Americans in blue and red states as political pawns in his cruel game to shut down the government to avoid extending the enhanced ACA premium tax credits that help reduce health care costs for 22 million Americans. 

Here are some stories of real Americans being impacted by Trump’s cuts to SNAP funding: 

On Broadcast

CNN: Millions of Americans may lose food assistance Saturday

“Losing SNAP for my family and my children would mean tightening our budget, of course. I won’t let my children go hungry — they’re going to be fed. So for me, it will be a matter of picking and choosing which bill I can go a month without paying. It will mean meal planning even more than I already do. I have a seven- and a five-year-old. My seven-year-old has autism, ADHD, and anxiety. And so along with that comes some sensory sensitivities. Meal planning is already pretty challenging for him. So it will just look like being more strategic than I already am. […] I am a working professional mom — a single mom. I work as many hours as I possibly can without having child care. I live in a rural area in Maine, and there aren’t any childcare options, especially one that can meet the needs of my autistic son. So, the majority of us are not abusing the system. We’re your neighbors, we’re your coworkers, we’re the parents at [school] pickup. We’re Republicans, we’re Democrats, we’re independents. We’re foster and adoptive families. We all use SNAP. That is not a partisan issue.”

In Print

WCNC Charlotte: State leaders, local nonprofits weigh in on SNAP benefit cuts across Carolinas 

[Bria Smith, 10/28/2025] 

“The government shutdown is forcing SNAP benefits out of the hands of millions of Americans throughout the country beginning Nov. 1. 

“South Carolina governor Henry McMaster announced emergency food funds in the midst of snap cut impacts due to the shutdown. 

“A crisis assistance ministry in Rock Hill has been overwhelmed trying to help families stay fed.

“‘A two-hour window and we saw 77 families just today, and we give ‘em a week’s worth of food for everybody in the household,’ HOPE of Rock Hill director Gordon Bell said. ‘But we’ve been inundated today with phone calls worried about their SNAP benefits.’

“Americans depending on federal food funds will begin to see the impacts. It’s why local nonprofits are gearing up to stock their shelves.

[…]

“‘We are certainly gearing up and ordering as much extra food as humanly possible,’ Nourish Up CEO Tina Postel said. ‘We have put out a call to our donors, to our volunteers to please give to us generously this holiday season. But there’s no way that — even with an amazing response from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community — that we will be able to feed everybody that SNAP benefits typically feeds.’”

CBS News: With food stamps set to dry up Nov. 1, SNAP recipients say they fear what’s next 

[Aimee Picchi and Mary Cunningham, 11/1/2025] 

“People enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, told CBS News they’re bracing for some tough financial choices. Kasey McBlais, a 42-year-old single mother living in Buckfield, Maine, said she’s planning to delay paying her electric and credit card bills to make sure her two children have enough to eat. 

“‘Now we’ll have to prioritize which bills we can pay and which can wait,’ McBlais, who works for a Maine social services agency and who draws about $600 a month in SNAP benefits, said. ‘My children won’t go hungry.’

[…] 

“Sharlene Sutton, a 45-year-old single mother of four in Dorchester, Massachusetts, who left her job as a security officer last month to care for one of her children, who has epilepsy, said she relies on the $549 she gets in monthly SNAP benefits to feed her family. 

“‘I was freaking out because I’m like, ‘Oh my god, now I don’t have a job,’ she told CBS News. ‘I’m not worried about myself that much. It’s about the kids. Like, where am I going to get food from?’

“Sutton said she’s looking for a food bank to help fill the gap if her food aid is cut off. But experts warn that the non-profit organizations alone aren’t capable of filling the $8 billion monthly hole left by a looming SNAP suspension.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: SNAP funding in Wisconsin is running out. Farmers and businesses brace for impact

[Anna Kleiber, 10/28/2025]

“Wisconsin Farmers Union Executive Director Danielle Endvick told the Journal Sentinel that a lot of farmers take pride in accepting SNAP EBT so that more people in their community can have access to regionally grown foods. Approximately 0.02%, or roughly $120 million, of Wisconsin’s FoodShare dollars are spent at farmers markets, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension.

“Endvick said in rural communities where people have to drive upwards to an hour away to get foods that are a little fresher, these farmers who accept SNAP can make a difference.

“‘One of our concerns at Wisconsin Farmers Union is that these cuts might disproportionately affect rural areas. We know that rural communities often have higher SNAP participation rates and there are fewer alternative economic engines in some rural places,’ Endvick said. ‘It’s ironic. We’re in farm country, but due to the nature of farming today, that doesn’t mean fresh local fruits and vegetables are in our grocery stores.’

“Additionally, a lot of local businesses and family farms rely on SNAP as a critical revenue source. Incremental revenue streams like SNAP EBT can serve as an important economic multiplier, meaning that each SNAP dollar spent returns that dollar and more to the local economy.

“‘Cuts to SNAP really do translate directly into reduced food purchases at local farmers markets and, in turn, means fewer dollars flowing back to our farmers and into local food supply chains,’ Endvick said.”