Emergency funds held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cannot be used to keep the food stamp program going if members of Congress don’t reach a funding agreement, according to a memorandum obtained by The Epoch Times.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food stamps to some 42 million Americans living in low-income households, is set to run out of allocated money on Nov. 1.
The USDA, which had declined to say whether it would utilize the estimated $6 billion in contingency funds it has if Congress does not clear new funding, said in the new memo that “contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular benefits.”…