Bennet, Hickenlooper, Luján, Entire Senate Democratic Caucus Introduce Bill to Fund Vital Nutrition Assistance Programs While Trump Administration Illegally Withholds Funding

Oct 29, 2025| Press Releases

The Trump Administration is required by law to use billions in available funding to maintain SNAP benefits in November; USDA's own guidance confirmed its authority to use available funds during a shutdown

Washington, D.C. - Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper joined U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and the Senate Democratic Caucus to introduce the Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act, legislation to provide funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) while the Trump Administration illegally withholds available funds.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has the authority to release SNAP contingency funds, and the Trump Administration is required by law to release these funds. However, despite having billions of dollars available to fund SNAP, the Trump Administration decided to withhold funding for SNAP benefits in November.

The Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025 would ensure SNAP and WIC benefits are uninterrupted for the remainder of this fiscal year. The legislation also requires the federal government to reimburse states for covering SNAP and WIC benefits during a shutdown.

"Despite having the legal authority and the funds to ensure Coloradans continue to receive their SNAP benefits, the Trump Administration decided to withhold funding from this vital program. This destructive decision comes at a time when working families across our state are already struggling with rising costs," said Bennet. "Our bill will ensure that the hundreds of thousands of Coloradans who use these programs to put healthy food on the table don't pay the price."

"Trump defunded the SNAP program and either eliminated health care or made premiums impossibly high - all to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy," said Hickenlooper. "Somehow, he found $40 billion to bail out Argentina, and $300 million to remodel the White House - but he won't spend a dime to keep American families fed. That's not leadership. It's cruelty."

"Let me be clear: the Trump administration has the authority and the funds to keep SNAP running. No child, veteran, grandparent, or hardworking American should go hungry because of partisan politics," said Senator Luján. "Congressional Republicans passed the largest cut to SNAP in history, and now the Trump administration is withholding billions in available funding to inflict maximum pain on the American people. 42 million Americans, including 1 in every 5 New Mexicans, relies on SNAP to feed their families. That's why I'm leading my colleagues to introduce legislation that would ensure the Trump administration immediately releases available funds to keep nutrition programs running."

SNAP is the nation's largest food assistance program, serving 42 million Americans. In July of this year, Republicans voted to strip $186 billion from SNAP in the "One, Big, Beautiful Bill", marking the largest cut to the program in history. In Colorado alone, over 600,000 people - or 10% of the state population - are at risk of losing their SNAP benefits if USDA does not utilize available funding to continue the program. Further, over 100,000 low-income women and children in Colorado rely on WIC to meet their nutrition needs. Any disruption in SNAP or WIC funding would be devastating for the millions of families that rely on these programs to put food on the table.

In addition to Bennet, Hickenlooper, and Luján, U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), 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.), 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.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), 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.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) cosponsored the bill.

The text of the bill is available HERE.

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