Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s (D-NJ) campaign is collecting food donations at her Saturday rally featuring former President Barack Obama, as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding expired the same day.
“In addition to turning out the vote for New Jersey Democrats, we will be collecting donations for the Community Food Bank of New Jersey as the Trump Administration is letting SNAP funding expire forcing more families to rely on food banks for food assistance,” Sherrill wrote in a post on X on Friday.
“Please bring canned fish and meat, shelf stable milk, boxed meals, canned and packaged meals, peanut butter, and canned fruit and vegetables,” she added.
Sherrill is co-headlining a rally with Obama in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday in the final stretch of her campaign for governor.
SNAP benefits expired Saturday as a result of the government shutdown. Approximately 42 million Americans, or one in eight people, rely on federal welfare programs.
WHAT HAPPENS IF SNAP PAYMENTS STOP ON NOV. 1?
Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ), who endorsed Sherrill and is campaigning with her this week, signed an executive order on Friday declaring a state of emergency over SNAP benefits, ahead of the expiration.
Murphy’s executive order created “a coordinated statewide response to ensure food access for vulnerable residents by empowering state agencies to take emergency actions to protect public health and welfare,” according to a press release.
Murphy also signed a similar executive order earlier on Friday establishing a task force designed to address “the acute food insecurity crisis caused by the federal government shutdown and USDA’s failure to fund SNAP.”
In New Jersey alone, 827,200 people get SNAP or food stamps, which is 9% of the state’s population, according to the USDA’s fiscal year 2024 report on SNAP program benefits.
PUBLIC BLAMES GOP MORE THAN DEMOCRATS FOR SHUTDOWN AHEAD OF SNAP FUNDING DEADLINE
As the Nov. 1 SNAP deadline approached, Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the funds expiring and the monthlong government shutdown.
Two dozen Democrat-led states sued the federal government earlier this week to compel the use of the emergency funds.
Sherrill co-signed a letter earlier this week to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, urging her to use the SNAP contingency funds for November.
“There are clear steps the administration can and must take immediately to ensure that millions of families across the country can put food on their table in November. Choosing not to SNAP benefits reach those in need this November would be a gross dereliction of your responsibilities to the American people,” Sherrill wrote in the letter.
JUDGE RULES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MUST RELEASE EMERGENCY SNAP FUNDS
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to release the emergency funds that would allow federal aid to keep supporting the program. There is roughly $5 billion in contingency funding, which experts say isn’t enough to cover a whole month of SNAP benefits.
Ahead of the ruling, Rollins would not commit to releasing the funds if ordered by a federal judge to do so.
“We’re looking at all options,” Rollins told reporters.
Sherrill said the Trump administration is cutting off food assistance, despite having funds to support the program in November.
“For Donald Trump and Washington Republicans, cruelty is the point,” Sherrill wrote on X. “I will continue to demand that the U.S. Department of Agriculture use available funds to protect November SNAP benefits.”
