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

US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has warned 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 October 1.

The aide to President Joe Biden 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.

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."

Nearly half of newborns rely on WIC

Millions of Americans rely on food benefits to make ends meet as inflation has put pressure o n 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.