USDA Pins Coming SNAP Lapse On Immigrants, Transgender Americans
Message appears prominently on agency’s website
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) explicitly is blaming the Trump administration’s decision to end food subsidies next month on immigrants and transgender Americans.
The administration has announced that it will not distribute November payments to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Further, USDA now is pointing a very public finger at the Trump administration’s favorite targets: immigrants and transgender Americans.
Although administration officials blame the shutdown for the impending lapse in SNAP payments, seasoned budget analysts and state attorneys general have said that they have the funds and authority to continue payments to do so.
More than 40 million Americans — including millions of children — rely on SNAP benefits in order to afford food for the month.
Rather, USDA would rather find scapegoats, posting a very prominent message on its website.
“Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance,” the notice said.
Erin In The Morning, a news service covering transgender and LGBTQ+ issues, first reported on USDA’s decision
The claims that USDA officials make in that notice are wholly untrue.
Democrats have publicly said they are not voting for the Republican budget plan because without legislative action healthcare premiums under the Affordable Care Act — also known as “Obamacare” — will skyrocket.
Republicans thus far have not publicly been willing to address that issue.
Erin Reed, of Erin In The Morning, said that it’s no accident that Republicans are blaming transgender Americans for their SNAP decisions.
The Republican budget proposal contains many policy riders aimed at stripping transgender Americans of their rights.
“Regardless of where voters stand, many Republicans in power continue to lean hard into anti-transgender politics—and the ongoing negotiations to reopen the federal government will almost certainly make trans people a bargaining chip again,” she wrote Monday. “When Congress debates the full fiscal year 2026 funding bills, dozens of anti-trans provisions are expected to resurface. Democrats, for their part, have shown flashes of resistance but also moments of retreat—most notably when they voted for a Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act that included anti-trans measures.”
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