A freeze on SNAP benefits for 2 million in Pennsylvanians is coming

President Donald Trump’s administration refuses contingency funds to help SNAP recipients. Up to 2 million Pennsylvanians could be affected.

With the federal government shutdown heading into its fourth week, close to 2 million Pennsylvanians who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to put food on their tables will stop receiving benefits come Saturday. 

Roughly 15% of Pennsylvanians rely on SNAP with nearly 70% of SNAP recipients nationwide being children, older adults or those with disabilities, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

Philabundance, a Philadelphia area foodbank, is warning that the effects of missed SNAP payments will be felt immediately. 

“For every 1 meal food banks provide, SNAP provides 9. This will leave over 800,000 people in our region without access to the food they need — including mostly families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities,” a Philabundance spokesperson said in a statement. 

“That’s in addition to federal workers who are missing paychecks and turning to food banks to fill the gap. This crisis comes at a time when food banks are already strained, due to rising demand and recent cuts to federal resources.”

SNAP is funded through the federal government and administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS), which will be unable to issue benefits until the shutdown ends or the USDA distributes contingency funding. 

Members of the US Senate Democratic Caucus called on USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins to dip into the contingency funding so millions of Americans don’t go hungry during the shutdown. 

However, US Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania), who was the only Democrat who skipped signing the letter asking for the funds to be distributed, appeared in a social media video with US Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pennsylvania) calling on Democrats to reopen the federal government. 

The freeze in SNAP benefits comes at a time when cuts to the program from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act are set to take place. DHS estimates that 144,000 Pennsylvanians will lose their benefits due to expanded work requirements, which also take effect on Saturday. 

The reason for the shutdown, meanwhile, is that Democrats are holding out on voting in favor of a GOP-led continuing resolution to fund the federal government, in order to secure Affordable Care Act subsidies that millions of Americans need to keep their health care costs down.