USDA says SNAP benefits won't be issued on Nov. 1

A notice on top of its website says "the well has run dry."

Last Updated: October 26, 2025, 9:58 PM GMT

The Department of Agriculture has posted a notice on its website warning that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits won't be issued on Nov. 1.

"Bottom line, the well has run dry," reads the notice, which also blames Democrats for the second-longest shutdown in U.S. history.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers remain at a stalemate on finding a government funding solution. The Senate has continued to fail to advance bill that would reopen the government until Nov. 21. The House remains out of session next week.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Oct 08, 2025, 4:25 PM GMT

Leader blame game continues on Senate floor ahead of another vote

Ahead of the sixth scheduled vote in the Senate on government funding, both Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer continued with the across-the-aisle blame.

There doesn't appear to be much movement in resolving the shutdown impasse.

Schumer, in remarks on the floor Wednesday morning, again branded this as "Donald Trump's government shutdown." Democrats, he said, "want to reopen the government right away," but require a "serious negotiation to fix health care" to do so.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill, October 8, 2025 in Washington.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

But Thune followed up by knocking the Democrats' shutdown strategy. Thune argued that the GOP-led clean funding bill was passed by the House, has majority support in the Senate and would be signed by President Donald Trump while the Democratic proposal would not.

"We are now in day 8 of a government shutdown, which is truly unfortunate and unnecessary and totally at the behest of left-wing Democrat special interest groups who have pressured the Democrat leadership into a position that makes absolutely no sense to any thinking person," Thune said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks with reporters as he walks onto the Senate floor at the U.S. Capitol Building on Capitol Hill, October 8, 2025 in Washington.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

-Allison Pecorin

Oct 08, 2025, 4:23 PM GMT

'I'm aggravated': A frustrated Johnson blasts Democrats on Day 8 of shutdown

Frustrations continue over the government shutdown, as House Republican leaders again blamed Democrats and Speaker Mike Johnson voicing exasperation over the prolonged impasse on Capitol Hill.

“I’m sorry. I’m aggravated,” Johnson admitted at a news conference in the Capitol on Wednesday as he caught his emotions bubbling up. “The first responsibility of the government is to protect the people. And the people who are supposed to be protected are being completely cheated by Democrats in the Senate because they want to play politics.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks at a news conference on the government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol, October 08, 2025 in Washington.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Ahead of a sixth attempt to break the stalemate in the Senate today, Johnson emphasized that the House’s clean continuing resolution would avert the pain inflicted during a shutdown.

“They have another chance today to reopen the government, and we'll see if they do the right thing,” Johnson said.

-ABC News' John Parkinson and Lauren Peller

Oct 07, 2025, 9:45 PM GMT

White House claims it will fund WIC program through tariff revenue

The White House claims it has found a “creative solution” to keep the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children program running as funding for it threatens to run out during the shutdown.

“Thankfully, President Trump and the White House have identified a creative solution to transfer resources from Section 232 tariff revenue to this critical program,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks at a press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing room at the White House, Oct. 6, 2025, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP

Leavitt continued to place the blame on Democrats using the funding fix as a way to score political points.

“The Democrats are so cruel in their continual votes to shut down the government that they forced the WIC program for the most vulnerable women and children to run out this week.”

ABC News has reached out to the White House on how the process will work.

-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa

Oct 07, 2025, 8:38 PM GMT

Senators slam the idea of denying federal workers back pay

Some senators slammed the suggestion of denying back pay for federal workers after a draft memo from the Trump administration suggested it might not be guaranteed for furloughed workers.

"I believe it's a strategic mistake to now let those folks know, or let them think, that they could potentially not get back pay. If I were them, I'd start looking for another job. And there's a lot of good, hardworking people out there," Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said.

The Capitol is illuminated at dawn in Washington, Oct. 6, 2025.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

"I don't think that that is helpful discussion right now," Tillis later added. "Let's get out of the shutdown."

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut argued that withholding back pay would be illegal.

"The law is they're entitled to back pay," Blumenthal said. "Not surprisingly, the White House, again, is potentially defying the law, but Congress, on both sides of the aisle, should take a stand against denying pay entitled to furloughed workers and to people who are on the job, our military, TSA, air controllers, they all ought to be paid. We all ought to have basic agreement on that point."

Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware also criticized the memo, calling it "inappropriate."

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow

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