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New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martinez talks about state efforts to temporarily backfill SNAP benefits during a news conference outside a grocery store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

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New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, center, announces the state will provide $30 million in emergency food assistance to residents to temporarily backfill SNAP benefits during a news conference outside a grocery store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

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New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, center, is flanked by state lawmakers as she announces the state will temporarily backfill SNAP benefits during a news conference outside a grocery store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

Food aid for more than 40 million Americans is at risk of expiring at week's end. Republican leaders in Congress said it’s all or nothing Wednesday as they rejected a Democratic push for a temporary fix. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that SNAP benefits have never stopped during previous government shutdowns and urged quick passage of the funding bill. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Republicans would not let Democrats pick winners and losers by funding only parts of the federal government. Thune said “it’s time to fund everybody.” The Department of Agriculture says the SNAP benefits will end Friday.

Food banks and pantries are bracing for a surge in demand if federal food aid is paused this weekend amid the government shutdown. They were already struggling in the wake of federal program cuts this year. Now, SNAP benefits are set to pause Nov. 1. It’s the latest in a string of hardships placed on charitable food services. Food banks and pantries across the country are concerned about meeting the growing need left in the wake of that pause. Some states are trying to fill the gap, but others lack resources to help.