With less than a day left before federal food aid is set to expire on Nov. 1, Rep. Joe Neguse visited the Food Bank for Larimer County to volunteer and hear from the nonprofit’s leadership as it ramps up to serve more people in need.
When he arrived around 11:30 a.m., food bank leadership was awaiting word on whether a judge would order the Trump administration to use emergency funds to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
By the time he left, two judges had done just that.
Shortly after the judges’ decisions on Oct. 31, Trump said on social media that the federal government likely lacks legal authority to require the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to pay for benefits provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP or food stamps.
“If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. What that means for SNAP recipients in November remains unclear, according to reporting by USA TODAY.
Neguse represents the 2nd Congressional District that includes Larimer County, and he is assistant minority leader for the House Democrats.
He and Amy Pezzani, CEO of the Food Bank for Larimer County, talked at the Blue Spruce location in Fort Collins about options the government has to restore funding.
There is a bipartisan effort in the Senate to pass a standalone bill to ensure SNAP benefits get funded, but it won’t get a vote until next week, he said.
Neguse contends that bill is unnecessary anyway, when there’s a way to fund benefits now: A SNAP emergency contingency fund with $5.2 billion.
“As the judge said yesterday, Congress intended for this fund to be used in this way,” Neguse said. “We know that because it’s been used that way previously, including during the prior shutdown in 2019.”
Meanwhile, Republican U.S. representatives from Colorado called on Democrats to vote to end the then-31-day shutdown, saying that would bring help to those who rely on SNAP benefits.
Reps. Gabe Evans, Lauren Boebert, Jeff Crank and Jeff Hurd sent a letter to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, saying county commissioners in their districts are hearing from “worried mothers with hungry children about their fear of not being able to access their benefits, jeopardizing their ability to put food on the table next month.”
“These commissioners are pleading with you and your colleagues – including Sens. (John) Hickenlooper and (Michael) Bennet – to put politics aside and pass the clean CR to avert a SNAP crisis,” the letter said.
But Neguse said: “The reason SNAP benefits are poised to lapse for the first time in the history of the program is the Trump administration refuses to release the funds that were authorized for that purpose,” he said. “It is unequivocally a deliberate choice being made by the administration. The Trump administration is in court arguing to a judge that they should not have to spend money on SNAP assistance.”
He believes the administration’s refusal to use the contingency fund to release SNAP benefits is a violation of law.
Futhermore, Neguse said the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicated weeks ago that it would use the fund to keep SNAP afloat but has since removed that information from their website.
Back in Larimer County, Pezzani told Neguse that more than 500 people have now signed up to access food bank services in the month of October alone, a sharp increase from the 150 people who signed up each month in July through September.
“That’s 500-plus additional families that haven’t been using us,” she said. “Then there are the families that are using us.”
One of those families, who already accesses services once a month, told her they will need to visit more, at the maximum allowed, in order to get the food they need. Clients can access the food bank up to twice per week.
“No one will go hungry. No one will not get food, but there’s no way for us to make up for $120 million in lost revenue to families,” Pezzani said.
After the Oct. 31 rulings by the district judges, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also called on the USDA to immediately release SNAP funding, which would benefit 600,000 Coloradans and 34,000 in Larimer County.
Earlier this week, the state Joint Budget Committee authorized $10 million in funding for food banks, but it can’t be used right away because a contract has to be in place first, Pezzani said.
In the meantime, the food bank has released some of its general operating funds to make bulk purchases.
When asked about why he holds firm on not voting to end the shutdown now, Neguse said he and his Democratic colleagues do feel a sense of urgency to negotiate an agreement to open the government.
That negotiation includes a focus on health care challenges but also on protecting federal workers that call Fort Collins home, he said: “The Trump administration has spent nine months purging federal workers from the workforce, unceremoniously terminating civil servants, including here in Fort Collins, all unlawfully.”
“It’s difficult to negotiate an agreement when one party refuses to even meet with you,” he said, noting the House of Representatives has been effectively closed for six weeks by Speaker Mike Johnson.
USA TODAY journalists Fernando Cervantes Jr. and Melina Khan contributed to this report.
