The Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, will run out of federal funding “very soon” due to the federal government shutdown, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Oct. 6.
The program provides nutritional support and education to about 6.8 million low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children younger than 5 years old.
WIC, which began with a pilot program in 1972, is not an entitlement program like Medicare or Medicaid for which ongoing funding is guaranteed by federal law. Instead, WIC is funded annually by Congress for the fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. The Department of Agriculture makes grants to each state. Spending authority for the federal government expired at midnight on Sept. 30. …