Commodities and Futures News

Government shutdown risks food benefits for 7 million, Biden aide warns

2023.09.25 14:47

2/2

© Reuters. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack speaks about a possible government shutdown during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 25, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis

2/2

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack warned on Monday that a government shutdown risks nutritional assistance for the nearly 7 million low-income women and children who rely on benefits.

Vilsack said some benefits could be affected within days or weeks if Congress fails to provide funding for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

The Biden aide said the “vast majority” of participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC program, would see an immediate reduction in benefits, with cuts happening in the days and weeks after a shutdown starts.

A separate benefits program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), will continue as normal for the month of October but could be affected afterward, he said.

“If we have a shutdown, WIC shuts down,” Vilsack told reporters at a briefing. “For what reason? There’s no reason for this shutdown, at the end of the day.”

Millions of Americans rely on food benefits to make ends meet as inflation has put pressure on household budgets and made goods from bread to fresh vegetables and baby formula more expensive since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly half of newborns in the United States rely on WIC, according to the Biden administration.

During a shutdown, farm service agencies will also stop making loans to farmers during harvest time, and new homebuyers won’t be able to get loans in rural areas, Vilsack said. More than 50,000 Department of Agriculture workers will be furloughed, meaning they won’t receive a paycheck.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives may move to advance steep spending cuts this week that stand no chance of becoming law, steps that could force a partial shutdown of the U.S. government by next Sunday. The steep spending cuts sought by House Republicans would likely be rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

House lawmakers on Tuesday were set to take up four spending bills for the coming fiscal year that would also impose new restrictions on abortion access, undo an $11 billion Biden administration climate initiative, and resume construction of the Mexico-U.S. border wall, a signature initiative of former President Donald Trump. Biden has vowed to veto at least two of the bills.

Vilsack called Republican fiscal plans “punitive” and “petty.”

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 96,818.94 0.88%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,341.78 1.83%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.03%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 250.96 1.40%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 655.55 1.05%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.41 2.36%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.422381 0.01%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.01%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 1.00 3.93%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,339.62 1.67%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.206425 2.04%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.570645 19.14%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 40.54 1.43%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.10 2.23%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000025 1.21%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,952.63 2.24%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 96,382.82 1.04%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.71 3.43%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 17.25 0.26%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 508.15 1.42%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,340.61 1.81%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.36 1.03%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.00002 1.70%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.58 7.94%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.47 1.40%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 96.63 0.97%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 12.11 3.68%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.62 0.75%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,514.55 1.96%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.145927 3.26%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.15 0.43%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.12%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.188976 3.88%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.550341 2.24%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 28.35 3.52%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.77 1.94%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.49 6.88%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.10%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.151544 0.60%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 510.76 1.02%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000048 2.19%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.28 1.91%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.08%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.043174 5.38%
celestia
Celestia (TIA) $ 8.00 13.27%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.834093 2.10%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.56 1.83%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.47 4.24%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.65 0.18%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 53.56 3.99%