The DHS spokesperson blamed Republicans in Congress for the government shutdown, citing their control of the House and Senate, as well as the White House.
“Congress has the ability to prevent the harm this will cause to Pennsylvania families and small businesses, and we urge Republicans in Congress to reopen the government and protect vulnerable Pennsylvanians at risk because of this inaction,” the spokesperson said.
Counties with the highest percentage of populations benefitting from SNAP are Philadelphia (30.2%), Fayette (24.3%) and Cameron (21.8%), according to data from DHS.
SNAP payments were threatened during the longest government shutdown in history, which lasted 35 days from 2018 into 2019; however, they were never frozen. February 2019 benefits were issued early in January that year, causing a long gap in payments for some recipients.
The pause in SNAP payments this year comes as the USDA fights in court to obtain personal data of recipients from multiple states, including Pennsylvania. The USDA already attempted to freeze payments to any state that refused to voluntarily provide the data.
Shapiro joined a lawsuit challenging that pause. And on Oct. 15, a federal judge ruled the USDA must continue funding SNAP until the lawsuit is resolved.
The massive tax cuts and spending bill signed by Trump earlier this year is expected by the Congressional Budget Office to slash SNAP funding by up to 20% by 2034.