{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-colleagues-pressure-trump-administration-to-fully_not-partially--fund-snap-benefits", "King, Colleagues Pressure Trump Administration to Fully \u2014 Not Partially \u2014 Fund SNAP Benefits", "2025-11-04", "2025", "2025-11", "Independent", "Senate", "ME", "Angus S. King, Jr.", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", "angusking", "https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/table", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 After benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for roughly 42 million Americans were stopped over the weekend due to the ongoing government shutdown, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), alongside, 45 of his colleagues, introduced a resolution calling on the Trump Administration to immediately use all congressionally approved funding to keep families from going hungry. Though the Trump Administration relented to court rulings yesterday and announced plans to partially distribute the contingency funds available to them, Senator King and his colleagues reminded the White House of the billions available to them and that half-measures are not sufficient. In Maine, nearly 170,000 people \u2014 over 12 percent of the state \u2014 receive SNAP benefits. Several counties across the state are approaching or surpassing 20 percent of their population relying on these critical benefits.\n\n\u201cAmericans going hungry during a government shutdown is not inevitable \u2014 it\u2019s a choice,\u201d said Senator King. \u201cIn all our history, a government shutdown has never meant that Americans can\u2019t put food on their tables because Congress has appropriated contingency funds for this exact purpose. I\u2019m proud to stand with my colleagues to demand that this Administration fully fund SNAP for the month of November by using the billions of dollars at its disposal. Maine families, children and seniors rely on these critical programs and it\u2019s our responsibility to make sure they receive the help they deserve.\u201d\n\nSNAP benefits lapsed on November 1 because the Administration initially refused to use a SNAP contingency fund of $6 billion previously appropriated by Congress. After two federal judges ruled that SNAP must continue to be funded, the Administration agreed to use the $4.65 billion left in the contingency fund to finance the program. However, the contingency fund will only cover half of SNAP benefits for the month of November, and the Administration is refusing to use additional available funds using an agreement established to spend Section 32 revenue \u2014 which dedicates a portion of tariffs to support the farm sector and nutrition programs \u2014 to fully fund SNAP in the month of November.\n\nLast week, Senator King cosponsored legislation that would prevent the Trump administration from illegally withholding available funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) during the government shutdown. He also cosponsored legislation from Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) that would disburse SNAP benefits after its expiration, but not WIC resources. Last month, Senator King joined 45 of his colleagues in writing a letter to Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins calling on the USDA to release billions of dollars at its disposal to ensure Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits continue in November.\n\nRead the full resolution here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "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://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-colleagues-pressure-trump-administration-to-fully_not-partially--fund-snap-benefits"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6848110351711512, "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"}