Speaker Mike Johnson stated that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contingency funds are not legally available to cover benefits during the government shutdown, citing a legal analysis from the Trump administration. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is holding over $5 billion in SNAP emergency funds but claims it cannot use them for the current shutdown, which it attributes to being a manufactured crisis by Democrats. Democrats have criticized this stance as a failure to support vulnerable populations relying on SNAP benefits.