The Shadow
WASHINGTON – As President Trump withholds existing funding for vital nutrition programs, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined their colleagues in introducing the Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025 to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) funded during the GOP’s government shutdown.
Despite having billions of dollars already available to keep SNAP running, the Trump administration is refusing to release the funds, forcing families already struggling with rising prices under President Trump to choose between paying their bills and going hungry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has both the authority and a clear legal obligation to disburse SNAP contingency funds yet continues to withhold them.
“Hardworking families across Virginia are paying more at the grocery store because of the chaos of the Trump economy. This summer, President Trump and congressional Republicans permanently ripped food assistance away from tens of thousands of Virginians anyway. Now, the Trump administration is trying to take it away from even more families,” said the senators. “Every administration, Republican and Democratic, has made sure families keep food on the table during a shutdown. This administration is breaking that precedent and putting politics ahead of basic decency and the law. No child, senior, servicemember, or working parent should go hungry when the federal government already has the authority and the funds ready to go.”
The Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025 ensures SNAP and WIC benefits continue uninterrupted for the remainder of this fiscal year. The legislation also requires the federal government to reimburse states for covering SNAP benefits during a shutdown.
In Virginia, 827,800 people rely on SNAP, with more than two-thirds living in families with children. The average household receives $232 in benefits, providing a critical lifeline to help families put food on the table. Last week, Warner and Kaine joined their colleagues in pressing the USDA to immediately release billions in available funds to keep SNAP benefits flowing through November.
Warner and Kaine have forcefully opposed President Trump’s efforts to slash nutrition assistance, including a $186 billion cut to SNAP funding to pay for tax breaks for billionaires as part of the GOP’s sweeping tax and budget bill signed into law in July. That legislation, passed solely on Republican votes despite Warner and Kaine’s strong objections, is expected to cut SNAP benefits for 78,000 Virginians. The senators have repeatedly warned that these cuts would hurt families, seniors, and children already struggling with rising grocery prices under the Trump economy, and have called on Congress to protect nutrition assistance as a critical lifeline.
