119-hres856

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 856 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
H. RES. 856

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
 States Department of Agriculture should use its contingency funds and 
interchange authority to finance the supplemental nutrition assistance 
 program.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 November 4, 2025

 Ms. Bonamici (for herself, Mrs. Hayes, Mrs. McIver, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
Landsman, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Smith of Washington, 
 Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Moulton, Mr. 
 Mullin, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Magaziner, Ms. 
 Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Ivey, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Adams, Ms. Lee of 
Nevada, Ms. Ross, Ms. DelBene, Ms. Stevens, Mr. Latimer, Mr. Tran, Mr. 
 Bishop, Ms. Chu, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Simon, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Titus, Mr. 
 Pocan, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Sorensen, Mr. Fields, Mr. Vargas, Mr. 
 Bell, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. Friedman, Mr. Olszewski, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. 
 McGarvey, Mr. Hernandez, Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Carter of 
 Louisiana, Mr. Torres of New York, and Mrs. Sykes) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
 States Department of Agriculture should use its contingency funds and 
interchange authority to finance the supplemental nutrition assistance 
 program.

Whereas, in 1964, Congress authorized the supplemental nutrition assistance 
 program (referred to in this preamble as ``SNAP'') to ``alleviate . . . 
 hunger and malnutrition'' and ensure that families would never go 
 hungry;
Whereas approximately 1 in 8 people in the United States rely on SNAP, and in 
 2024, SNAP helped approximately 42,000,000 people avoid hunger or 
 malnutrition, including about 16,000,000 children, 8,000,000 seniors, 
 4,000,000 people with disabilities, and 1,200,000 veterans;
Whereas, in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, Congress appropriated 
 $3,000,000,000 to the SNAP contingency fund to remain available through 
 September 30, 2026, that would be ``placed in reserve for use only in 
 such amounts and at such times as may become necessary to carry out 
 program operations'';
Whereas, in the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, 
 Congress appropriated another $3,000,000,000 to the SNAP contingency 
 fund for these same purposes, to remain available through September 30, 
 2027;
Whereas this contingency fund, which totals more than $5,000,000,000 following a 
 recent apportionment by the Office of Management and Budget of 
 $750,000,000, was created to ensure that SNAP funding would be available 
 to respond to emergencies, including a government shutdown, so that 
 children, seniors, and people of the United States who are at risk of 
 going hungry have access to food;
Whereas it is highly damaging for children to go without food and the ability of 
 children to learn in school is deeply damaged by persistent hunger;
Whereas, during the 2018-2019 shutdown in the first Trump administration, the 
 United States Department of Agriculture (referred to in this preamble as 
 the ``USDA'') said in guidance released in January 2019 that ``funding 
 is available from the contingency that can be used to provide benefits 
 for February'', though the shutdown ended before the contingency funds 
 needed to be used;
Whereas, on September 30, the USDA posted guidance on its website indicating 
 that SNAP ``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'' and that 
 ``[t]hese multi-year contingency funds are also available to fund 
 participant benefits in the event that a lapse occurs in the middle of 
 the fiscal year'';
Whereas, earlier in 2025, the Government Accountability Office explained that 
 ``SNAP is considered an appropriated entitlement, meaning that the 
 government is legally required to make payments to those who meet the 
 program requirements'' and ``USDA's liability [extends to] the 
 availability of appropriations for these payments'';
Whereas the Secretary of Agriculture has discretion under 

section 702

    (b) of the 
 Department of Agriculture Organic Act of 1944 (7 U.S.C. 2257) to 
 transfer funds within nutrition programs via interchange authority;
Whereas, in October 2025, the Trump administration used its interchange 
 authority to fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, 
 Infants, and Children

    (WIC) ; and
Whereas the people of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the 
 Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands who receive nutrition 
 assistance from the Nutrition Assistance Program block grants are 
 experiencing the same challenges because of the lapse in appropriations: 
 Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--

    (1) the Trump administration is legally obligated to fund 
 the supplemental nutrition assistance program (referred to in 
 this resolution as ``SNAP'') through the use of the contingency 
 fund;

    (2) the Trump administration has the legal authority and 
 the funds to finance SNAP through the month of November;

    (3) exercising this power is extremely important for the 
 health and wellness of families experiencing hunger, including 
 about 16,000,000 children, 8,000,000 seniors, 4,000,000 people 
 with disabilities, and 1,200,000 veterans; and

    (4) the administration should immediately exercise its 
 legal authority to fund SNAP in November 2025.
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