119-sres481

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 481 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
S. RES. 481

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

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 November 3, 2025

Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Ms. Alsobrooks, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. 
Bennet, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Booker, Ms. Cantwell, 
 Mr. Coons, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Gallego, 
 Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Hickenlooper, Ms. 
 Hirono, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Kim, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. 
 Lujan, Mr. Markey, Mr. Murphy, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Ossoff, Mr. Padilla, 
 Mr. Peters, Mr. Reed, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Schiff, 
 Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Slotkin, Ms. Smith, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Warner, Mr. 
 Warnock, Ms. Warren, Mr. Welch, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Wyden) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
 on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate 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 now totals more than $4,500,000,000, 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; and
Whereas, in October 2025, the Trump administration used its interchange 
 authority to fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, 
 Infants, and Children

    (WIC) : Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate 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.
 <all>