{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://horsford.house.gov/media/press-releases/horsford-pausing-snap-despite-emergency-fund-is-a-choice", "Horsford: Pausing SNAP Despite Emergency Fund is a Choice", "2025-10-30", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "House", "NV", "Steven Horsford", "H001066", "horsford.house.gov", "horsford", "https://horsford.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins urging her to use the $6 billion contingency fund for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) before benefits end on November 1st for more than 42 million vulnerable Americans.\n\n\u201cAs we enter the holiday season, House Republicans are on their fifth week of a taxpayer-funded vacation and America\u2019s largest food assistance program is about to shut down,\u201d Rep. Horsford said. \u201cCongress created the contingency fund to prevent this exact crisis \u2013 the administration\u2019s ongoing refusal to use it contradicts Congressional intent and worsens food insecurity for half-a-million Nevadans who depend on SNAP. The politics of incompetence and cruelty must end. When Trump and Republicans control all branches of government, this isn\u2019t merely an unfortunate series of events \u2013 this is their plan.\u201d\n\nCongress created the SNAP contingency fund to ensure operations could continue during lapses in appropriations. Both the Government Accountability Office and prior shutdown contingency plans \u2013 including one issued during President Trump\u2019s previous administration \u2013 affirm that these funds are legally available to pay benefits during a lapse in appropriations.\n\nKey letter excerpt:\n\nA lapse in benefits would harm one in eight Americans \u2013 and in my home state of Nevada, one in six. Such a failure would not only endanger already hungry households but would also send shockwaves through entire communities. Yet, despite having both the clear statutory authority and the available funding to provide relief, your Department has chosen to withhold these critical benefits at the direction of President Trump. I am deeply concerned by your refusal to release the funds necessary to sustain SNAP beginning November 1, 2025.\n\nThe threat to SNAP comes as the program is already experiencing deep cuts as a result of the Republican\u2019s \u201cBig Beautiful\u201d bill in July. Approximately 4 million people in a typical month will lose some or all of their SNAP food benefits once the GOP\u2019s changes are fully implemented, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).\n\nOn October 24th, Rep. Horsford led a letter to Governor Lombardo signed by his fellow Nevada Congressional Democrats, Reps. Titus (NV-01) and Lee (NV-03), urging he do everything within his power, including calling for a Special Session of the Legislature, to protect SNAP recipients.\n\nNevada\u2019s Attorney General, Aaron Ford, has also pushed to protect SNAP recipients in the Silver State. Earlier this week, he joined 25 other Attorneys General in a lawsuit to force the Trump administration to use SNAP\u2019s emergency fund.\n\nFull text of Rep. Horsford\u2019s letter to Secretary Rollins is available here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://horsford.house.gov/media/press-releases/horsford-pausing-snap-despite-emergency-fund-is-a-choice"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.402250025421381, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}