The U.S. Department of Agriculture says contingency funds cannot be used to pay SNAP benefits to about 42 million people, despite its own prior guidance that points to “Congressional intent.” The USDA also says that states that choose to cover those costs will not be reimbursed when the shutdown is lifted.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program “has contingency funds that could cover about two-thirds of the shortfall, which Democrats and liberal-leaning groups are calling on the administration to tap,” Axios reported. “But the USDA issued a one-page memo Friday saying the fund is only for true emergencies ‘like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, that can come on quickly and without notice.'”

Axios also called Friday’s guidance “the latest salvo in a string of memos and legal opinions designed to pressure Democrats into approving a ‘clean CR,’ or continuing resolution, to fund the government.”

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Additionally, Axios reported, a Center for American Progress (CAP) analysis Thursday “argued Trump has a legal obligation to continue funding SNAP, and accused him of cruelty.”

“The Trump administration has spent the entire year endangering the food security of millions of Americans,” CAP’s analysis stated. “From terminating funding used to purchase food for schools and food banks to passing the largest cuts in SNAP history, the administration has made it clear that its goal is to take food away from hungry families—and that sentiment is extending to the USDA’s approach to the shutdown.”

But according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a now-deleted USDA shutdown “Lapse of Funding” memo states that the General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) “provided a letter to USDA” that states “there is a bona fide need to obligate benefits for October – the first month of the fiscal year – during or prior to the month of September,” which would guarantee that funds be available for SNAP benefits.

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“In addition,” the memo stated, “Congressional intent is evident that SNAP’s operations should continue since the program has been provided with multi-year contingency funds that can be used for State Administrative Expenses to ensure that the State can also continue operations during a Federal Government shutdown.”

CBPP President Sharon Parrott, a former OMB official, said in a statement on Thursday that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ “claim that the Trump Administration is unable to deliver November SNAP benefits during a shutdown is unequivocally false.”

“In fact,” Parrott said, “the Administration is legally required to use contingency reserves — billions of dollars that Congress provided for use when SNAP funding is inadequate that remain available during the shutdown — to fund November benefits for the 1 in 8 Americans who need SNAP to afford their grocery bill.”

READ MORE: Alabama Republican Ties School Enrollment Drop to ‘Dissatisfaction’ With LGBTQ Content

Image via Reuters 

An Alabama state GOP lawmaker says expanding the current “Don’t Say Gay” law would stop the record drop in school enrollment.

State Rep. Mack Butler of Rainbow City has filed legislation to expand the “Don’t Say Gay” law, first passed in 2021, from K-5 classrooms to all public school grades, according to the Alabama Reflector:

“Butler said in an interview Wednesday the bill is meant to help public schools focus on educating students and claimed that the recent enrollment decline partially comes from parents who are unsatisfied with LGBTQ content in schools. Alabama public officials have not said that was a reason for the drop in the K-12 population.”

Rep. Butler added, “as you’re seeing with the decreased enrollment, and a lot of it’s the CHOOSE Act and the virtual school or home schooling, but there absolutely is a dissatisfaction with what we’re doing, and I see this as helping public education get them back to their actual core charge.”

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The “Don’t Say Gay” legislation would “prohibit classroom instruction or discussions related to gender identity or sexual orientation from being provided to public school students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade.”

It would “prohibit public preK-12 teachers and education employees from displaying a flag or insignia relating to sexual orientation or gender identity on school property,” and “prohibit public preK-12 teachers and education employees from referring to a student by pronouns inconsistent with the student’s biological sex at birth.”

The Reflector also reported that the “Alabama Legislature in the last five years has passed several laws targeting LGBTQ+ people, including the original ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law passed in 2021 and a ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth the following year.”

According to BillTrack, Butler also has sponsored legislation prohibiting “schools and public libraries from presenting or sponsoring drag performances,” a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public schools, a bill requiring the “broadcast of the Star-Spangled Banner” weekly, and several bills related to religious exemptions for vaccine requirements.

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Image via Shutterstock

Questions are swirling after the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed it has accepted an anonymous gift of $130 million to help pay the troops during the federal government shutdown. President Donald Trump earlier this week told reporters a “friend” of his offered to cover the soldiers’ salaries. Reportedly, the Pentagon is limited in what private gifts it can receive and how they may be used.

“By the way, a man, a friend of mine,” the President said on Thursday, “a friend of mine, a man that’s great — I’m not gonna use his name unless he lets me do it.”

“He called us the other day,” Trump continued, “and he said, ‘I’d like to contribute any shortfall you have because of the Democrats’ shutdown. I’d like to contribute, personally contribute, any shortfall you have with the military, because I love the military, I love the country, and any shortfall, if there’s a shortfall, I’ll contribute it.'”

“And today, he sent us a check for $130 million.”

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On Friday, Defense Department Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the payment, according to PBS NewsHour’s Nick Schifrin:

“On October 23, 2025, the @DeptofWar accepted an anonymous donation of $130 million under its general gift acceptance authority.  The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of Service members’ salaries and benefits. We are grateful for this donor’s assistance after Democrats opted to withhold pay from troops.”

Bloomberg News reported that the “donation is President Donald Trump’s latest maneuver to seize greater control of government functions amid the shutdown, which has stretched into its fourth week.”

Questions immediately arose.

Defense One reporter Meghann Myers noted, “donors of amounts over $10,000 need to be vetted for conflicts of interest. Hard to do if the donor is anonymous. Or is the donor known to the Pentagon and they have agreed to withhold their identity?”

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Bloomberg reported, “While individuals can make unconditional gifts to the US Treasury, they’re credited to the general fund or used to pay down the national debt. The money can’t be spent without a congressional appropriation — and it’s that lack of an appropriation that has shut down the government.”

Former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger added, “The US spends roughly $16 billion per month on pay for the troops. So the idea that $130 million has somehow kept the DOD pay afloat is odd.”

Bloomberg also noted that the “$130 million total would only cover a small portion of the payroll for the nation’s roughly 1.3 million active-duty military members — averaging about $100 per person.”

The U.S. military is allowed to accept private donations, but only for “military schools, hospitals, libraries, museums, cemeteries and similar institutions, and to help service members and civilian employees who are wounded or killed in the line of duty, and their families,” Bloomberg noted.

Former U.S. diplomat Brett Bruen commented, “This doesn’t just raise major ethical concerns, it raises serious security concerns. Our military should be benefiting from or beholden to no one other than the American people.”

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