October 31, 2025

Merkley, Wyden, Entire Senate Democratic Caucus: Trump Administration Must Stop Illegally Withholding Funding for Nutrition Assistance Programs That Feed American Families

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden joined the Senate Democratic Caucus to demand the Trump Administration stop illegally withholding available funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Led by Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Senate Democrats introduced the Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025 to direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately release billions of dollars in available funds to ensure SNAP and WIC benefits continue uninterrupted for the remainder of this fiscal year. The legislation also requires the federal government to reimburse states for covering SNAP benefits during a shutdown. Without action, SNAP benefits are expected to lapse nationwide on Saturday, November 1, due to the current Republican-led government shutdown.

“President Trump is using food as a weapon to inflict harm on vulnerable families across the country, including 210,000 children and 130,000 seniors in Oregon who rely on SNAP for critical nutrition assistance,” Merkley said. “This is wrong on every level, and the Trump Administration must follow the law and ensure millions of Americans don’t go hungry.”

“Donald Trump’s choice to hurt 42 million kids, seniors and more in America with his food fight is unacceptable, unjust and un-American,” Wyden said. “Trump can -- and must -- stop the hunger emergency he has needlessly and cruelly generated.”

Despite having billions of dollars ready and available to pay for SNAP, the Trump Administration continues to play politics with the ability of Americans across the country to put food on the table. Not only does the USDA have the authority to release SNAP contingency funds, but the statute is clear: the Administration is required by law to release these funds.

In Oregon, more than 757,000 people are at risk of losing their SNAP benefits if the USDA does not utilize available funding to continue the program. This includes nearly 210,000 children and 130,000 seniors across the state.

Previously, Wyden and Merkley joined their colleagues to urge the Trump Administration to release the billions of dollars at its disposal to ensure SNAP benefits continue next month in Oregon and nationwide.

The Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025 is led by Senator Luján and cosponsored by Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), in addition to Merkley and Wyden.

Full text of the Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025 can be found by clicking here.

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