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by WILL FOLKS
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With the federal government still shut down over what amounts to Democrat infighting in New York, millions of Americans conditioned to rely on our nation’s dependency economy are staring down an interruption in one of the federal government’s most visible, impactful and expensive programs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) – which last year served a staggering 41.7 million people across the country at a cost of more than $100 billion – did not dole out benefits on November 1, 2025.
That marked the program’s first interruption since it was launched six decades ago.
Those in line to receive SNAP benefits (a.k.a. food stamps) appeared to be on the verge of getting a partial payout when a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered USDA to spend a $4.65 million from a contingency fund on these subsidies. U.S. district judge Jack McConnell – an appointee of Barack Obama – ordered the administration to tap this emergency fund, which would have covered approximately half of the monthly $8 billion cost of the program.
The administration appeared ready to comply, but then U.S. president Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform and made it clear there would be no benefits paid out until the government reopened.
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“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!” Trump wrote.
As we reported last week, law enforcement agencies in South Carolina remained on alert as a result of “heightened tension” related to the food stamp cutoff.
According to the very latest data (.pdf) from the S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS) – the agency which administers SNAP benefits in South Carolina – 263,545 households comprising 549,979 individuals received SNAP benefits during the month of October 2025, at a total cost to taxpayers of $104.7 million.
That’s an average payout of nearly $400 per household.
As previously reported, SNAP funds flow directly from the federal government to a third-party processor responsible for handling individual Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) accounts. SCDSS does not handle SNAP money or receive a direct fund transfer from the federal government – which is why this budget line item was controversially taken off the state’s books several years ago.
During the state fiscal year which concluded on June 30, 2025, SNAP benefits in South Carolina totaled $1.36 billion, per SCDSS data (.pdf).
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RELATED | ‘HEIGHTENED TENSION’ OVER FOOD STAMP CUTOFF
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Democrats in Washington, D.C. voted for a fourteenth time on Tuesday (November 4, 2025) to reject a continuing spending resolution passed by the U.S. House – with Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman and Angus King joining Republicans and fiscal conservative Rand Paul siding with Democrats on the 54-44 tally.
Paul did say he was pleased to hear Trump’s administration was “working to get to the bottom of why 41 million people are on SNAP and why this program exploded on Joe Biden’s watch.”
Those are critical questions, but when Trump’s agriculture secretary – Brooke Rollins – sought answers to them back in January of this year, 21 blue states refused to provide the administration with SNAP data.
“In just the states that cooperated, we’ve already uncovered massive fraud,” Rollins said this week.
Meanwhile, as negotiations in the U.S. Senate continue, Trump is urging Republicans to do away with a 60-vote threshold for advancing legislation in that chamber – a.k.a. the “nuclear option.”
“It will be impossible for Republicans to get Common Sense Policies done with these Crazed Democrat Lunatics being able to block everything by withholding their votes,” Trump wrote. “FOR THREE YEARS, NOTHING WILL BE PASSED, AND REPUBLICANS WILL BE BLAMED. Elections, including the Midterms, will be rightfully brutal. If we do terminate the Filibuster, we will get EVERYTHING approved, like no Congress in History.”
As always, keep it tuned to FITSNews as we track developments on multiple fronts related to this story… and continue doing our best to hold those in power accountable for the total lack of sustainability of federal spending.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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4 comments
You know Argentina where Trump sent $40 billion US? They have food assistance, universal healthcare and child care, so feel good Republicans that you are funding all the stuff for their country that you say we can’t afford for Americans.
I love how you quote this lunatic’s unhinged social media rants like it is completely normal.
Republicans could end this any time they want, either negotiate or nuke the filibuster. Kids are going hungry at the hands of Republicans. Remember, Democrats kept the government running in 23 and 24 when the Republicans controlled the House (and the Dems had a majority but did not have 60 votes in the Senate). Tell me again which party is incompetent and can’t govern?
Dude pardons CZ and doesn’t know who the hell CZ even is, builds a ballroom, gives money to Argentina, screws our farmers, but can’t feed the working poor in America and even tells our troops in Germany to hit up the German food banks.
“America First” was a threat.