Jennifer Ludden

The Agriculture Department's contingency money falls short of full SNAP funding for November.

The administration has said calculating partial payments would be a logistical nightmare that could take weeks.

States and cities across the country have been preparing for a lapse.

They're ramping up donations to food banks, offering protections if people fall behind on their bills, even shifting their own budgets to pay some amount of food aid to snap recipients temporarily.

Jennifer Lutton, NPR News, Washington.

The federal government usually sends SNAP funding to states well before the first of the month because it takes days to distribute it onto people's debit-like cards.

Now, there's an added complication.

The Agriculture Department's contingency money falls short of full SNAP funding for November.

The administration has said calculating partial payments would be a logistical nightmare that could take weeks.

States and cities across the country have been preparing for a lapse.

They're ramping up donations to food banks, offering protections if people fall behind on their bills, even shifting their own budgets to pay some amount of food aid to snap recipients temporarily.

Jennifer Ludden, NPR News, Washington.

One in eight people in the U.S.

get SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps.

Joel Berg, the CEO of Hunger Free America, says it would be catastrophic for those low- and moderate-income families if that aid suddenly stopped.

The vast majority are children, working people, older Americans, veterans, and people with disabilities.

He also says food banks and other charities can nowhere near make up for the loss of $8 billion in federal funding.

The Agriculture Department is told states there's not enough money for full SNAP funding in November, so payments are on hold.

In a statement to NPR, an agency spokesperson blamed Senate Democrats for keeping the government shut down.

Jennifer Ludden, NPR News, Washington.