Government shutdown threatens food assistance program relied on by seven million families

A U.S. federal program that has long enjoyed bipartisan support, serving nearly 7 million pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and children under five, and that has been shown to improve the health of low-income families, is also on hold due to the government shutdown. Its beneficiaries are expected to feel the impact within one to two weeks.

The program in question is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, better known by its acronym WIC, which has a yearly budget of $8 billion. It provides vouchers for infant formula, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, skim milk, and other healthy staples — foods that are significantly more expensive than ultra-processed, high-calorie products and therefore often out of reach for low-income households.

If a funding agreement is not reached soon, states will have to either use their own funds to keep WIC — a program with a 50-year history — running or allow it to shut down. If they choose the first option, states could seek reimbursement once the federal budget is approved, but not all are able to front the money. “We feel good about one to two weeks,” said Ali Hard, policy director at the National WIC Association. “After that, we are very worried.”

In the event of a prolonged shutdown, several states have tried to reassure beneficiaries that they will continue receiving benefits. Connecticut has announced it will cover the full cost, while Mississippi, which has committed to continuing assistance for current beneficiaries, has temporarily paused enrollment of new participants, except for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, or those requesting benefits for high-risk infants. In Washington, D.C., by contrast, where one-third of infants receive WIC benefits, authorities say they do not have the funds to keep the program running.

The shutdown, which began last Wednesday, coincided with the start of a new fiscal year, meaning programs like WIC, which rely on annual federal funding, are running out of money. The program is currently staying afloat thanks to a $150 million contingency fund, but experts warn that it could be quickly depleted.

Republicans, including the Trump administration, have explicitly cited WIC beneficiaries as one of the groups of Americans who will feel the effects of the shutdown earliest and most acutely. Other affected groups include approximately 140,000 school-aged children in New York living in temporary shelters or without a fixed home, a percentage drawn from the 1.3 million K–12 students officially identified as homeless by the Department of Education — though the real number is likely higher.

The speaker of the House, Republican Mike Johnson, has repeatedly blamed the Democrats for the government shutdown, calling them hypocrites, since, he argues, failing to fund the federal government endangers many health programs, the main reason cited by Democrats for pushing for the shutdown.

Research has linked participation in WIC to lower infant mortality, healthier birth weights, higher immunization rates, and better academic outcomes for children. Nearly half of those eligible do not enroll, often because they believe they do not qualify or cannot get to a WIC office. Its specialized nature also means that many people are unaware of it, unlike the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides subsidized food coupons with no age limit, and is much more widely known.

However, an end to the shutdown would not get rid of the challenges facing WIC. Some Republican legislators are seeking to cut the program, which is slated for elimination in Project 2025, the influential policy blueprint of Trumpism produced by the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation. Trump’s budget request and the House Republicans’ proposed spending plan would not fully fund WIC. They also want to reduce funding for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables.

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