New Mexico’s congressional delegation says the United States Department of Agriculture already has roughly $5 billion in contingency funds and can avert a lapse in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program next month despite the ongoing shutdown.

Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico

This article was originally published by Source New Mexico.

Three members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation said Thursday that the United States Department of Agriculture has all the money it needs to keep food assistance flowing to 42 million Americans in November, despite officials’ claims otherwise.

In a little more than a week, more than 450,000 New Mexicans will likely not receive SNAP payments, according to state officials. That’s because the USDA on Oct. 10 sent state SNAP administrators a letter ordering them not to send SNAP recipient information to statewide vendors due to “insufficient funds” resulting from the ongoing federal government shutdown.

But U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, who represents New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District, said Thursday that the USDA has access to $5 billion in SNAP “contingency funds” it could use to keep SNAP recipients fed.

“President Trump could act today to make sure families don’t go hungry — but instead he’s using hunger as punishment while taking $200 million from billionaires for a gilded ballroom and sending a $40 billion bailout to Argentina. That’s cruel. That’s un-American,” Leger Fernández said in a statement. 

Food and Nutrition Services, the USDA division that runs SNAP, did not respond to Source New Mexico’s request for comment Thursday about why it isn’t using contingency funds — money Leger Fernández said was “set aside specifically for emergencies like this” — to keep benefits flowing through Thanksgiving despite the shutdown. 

In addition to the statement, Leger Fernández joined about 180 colleagues in signing a letter regarding SNAP expected to be sent tomorrow, according to her spokesperson. Democratic members of the Senate, including U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, sent their own letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins earlier Thursday. 

The latter letter also notes the USDA’s contingency funding as one example of the agency having sufficient funding and authority to avoid any lapse in SNAP funding. 

“Americans are already struggling with the rising cost of groceries, and they cannot afford a sudden lapse in grocery assistance,” the letter reads. 

New Mexico has the highest rate of SNAP reliance in the country, with $90 million in benefits serving 250,000 households hanging in the balance come Nov. 1. Food banks across the state are gearing up to meet the increased demand, though food bank leaders told state lawmakers Wednesday they do not have the capacity to meet an increase in demand for food. 

Michael Coleman, Gov. Michellle Lujan Grisham’s communications director, told Source in a statement Wednesday evening that the governor is “carefully assessing options for those whose benefits could be abruptly cut off Nov. 1.” 

However, spokespersons from the Health Care Authority, which administers SNAP, and the governor’s office did not provide further comment Thursday about how the state might intervene to save the benefits. 

“Gov. Lujan Grisham is fully aware and deeply concerned that food security is in grave jeopardy for nearly a half-million New Mexicans who rely on the SNAP program,” Coleman said. 

Patrick Lohmann is a reporter for Source New Mexico.