WASHINGTON — As the federal government shutdown lingers into its fourth week, hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans saw their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits suspended today.
Nearly 17 percent of Oklahoma’s population relies on SNAP benefits to keep their households fed. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in 2024, 686,800 Oklahomans — one in every six Oklahoma residents — received SNAP benefits. With today’s disruption looming for weeks, food banks in Oklahoma have been working tirelessly to help families receive the help they need.
“We want people to have as much access to food as they can get. When you’re reducing these programs, it will cause a burden on Oklahomans,” said Austin Prickett, director of marketing and communications for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.
The shutdown began Oct. 1 after the Senate failed to pass a funding bill and the previous federal budget expired. While Republicans have control over the U.S. Senate by a margin of 53-47, budget bills must receive 60 votes, giving Democrats rare negotiating power. Democrats have attempted to leverage the three-fifth supermajority requirement to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits and reverse Medicaid cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025.
This story was reported by Gaylord News, a Washington reporting project of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma.
The suspension of food benefits takes effect exactly one month after changes to SNAP were enacted through the OBBB. As reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, these new provisions cause changes to time-limited work requirements. For most individuals, SNAP requires able-bodied adults without dependents to work in order to receive benefits. Before, those 55 and older did not need to meet additional work requirements as an able-bodied adult without independents. Now, the upper-age exception would rise from 55 to 65. Additionally, the work exception for those caring for a dependent child will no longer be in effect if the child is older than 14. Homeless individuals, veterans and those who aged out of foster care will no longer have exceptions.
All of these changes and suspensions will be directly reflected back onto Oklahomans, who live in a state with a higher rate of food insecurity than the national average. Oklahoma’s rate is above 15 percent, while the national average is 13.5 percent, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
“Folks have more of a burden to go and get food assistance,” said Prickett. “It’s hard to do, especially if you have a job. It’s almost impossible to get somewhere when the programs are open and to get people to help you.”
Members of the Oklahoma Legislature have issued statements calling for support to vulnerable Oklahomans, although the Legislature is not scheduled to resume session until Feb. 2. While state Democrats called Friday for Gov. Kevin Stitt to declare an emergency and call a special session for funding SNAP benefits, the governor and other Republicans have emphasized that it’s the responsibility of Congress to solve the problem.
“Oklahoma families shouldn’t have to pay the price for partisan inaction,” said House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) in a press release. “The Oklahoma House remains focused on protecting our citizens and ensuring families, seniors and children have access to the support they need, regardless of what happens in D.C.”
As the holiday season approaches, potentially leaving SNAP benefits suspended through Thanksgiving, the pressure keeps building for senators in Washington.
“Nobody wins in a government shutdown, and in fact, many are losing,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) in a press release. “Tens of thousands of young parents are worried about caring for their children if food stamps (SNAP) run out, active-duty military families are turning to food banks and essential federal employees are having to choose between putting gas in their car, paying the electric bill or buying groceries.”
Stitt wrote an open letter to state agencies asking for a review of their federal funding and “to identify how your agency can refocus these programs on their core mission and ensure direct support to our most vulnerable citizens.”
“For example, the SNAP program has served 922,646 Oklahomans this past year, which is fully funded by the federal government and administered by the state,” Stitt wrote. “This population costs approximately $130 million to $142 million in tax dollars every month, an amount that we simply cannot backfill with state appropriations alone.”
Stitt reported two out of five current recipients, or 37 percent, of Oklahoma’s SNAP recipients are working-age adults who do not fall into the categories of children, seniors, disabled, veterans or pregnant women, which he characterized as Oklahoma’s our “most vulnerable” populations.
“This example underscores the vital need for federal partnership, but also the necessity for our state to focus federal programs on their core purposes of serving those with the greatest need and to ensure our systems are resilient in the face of federal interruptions,” Stitt continued.
Late Friday afternoon, Stitt, Hilbert and Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle) announced that they intend to meet as the Contingency Review Board at 5 p.m. Monday to allocate $1 million per week from the State Emergency Fund to support Oklahoma food banks as long as SNAP benefits are suspended.
As the shutdown continues, with no clear end in sight, Republican U.S. senators are calling on their Democratic colleagues to resolve the shutdown, citing the needs of the people most affected.
“The Trump administration has tried to shield the American people from the harmful effects of this Democratic shutdown,” U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said in a statement. “But as the shutdown drags on, the reality is the only way to guarantee paychecks for federal employees, keep America’s skies safe for travelers and ensure critical safety-net programs remain available for Oklahomans in need is to reopen the government. Under President (Joe) Biden, this same type of clean continuing resolution passed on a bipartisan basis 13 times. Now, under President (Donald) Trump, it’s exceptionally disappointing to see Democrats choosing politics over paychecks and the most vulnerable.”
However, Senate Republican leadership rejected an opportunity to extend SNAP benefits earlier this week. U.S. Sen. Ray Luján (D-New Mexico) presented a bill Wednesday night that would have funded SNAP benefits until the government shutdown was over. The bill failed to receive unanimous consent, a procedure that allows a bill to pass when no senator objects to it, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune arguing the proper way to restore SNAP benefits is by passing the continuing resolution to fund the government.
“We’re not going to let them pick winners and losers,” said Thune (R-South Dakota). “It’s time to fund everybody.”
Senate Democrats hold out, Republicans reject extensions as Oklahomans seek SNAP alternatives
While the Senate remains gridlocked, Oklahoman families are beginning to worry about how they will put food on the table.
“My mom and dad both said that they’re going to make sure that we eat,” said Ryen Littlefield, a mother of two. “If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know what I would do right now.”
According to the Center on Budget and Priority Policies, more than 66 percent of SNAP recipients in Oklahoma are in families with children, and more than 42 percent are working families.
“I have friends who work full time jobs and are still having to use EBT to help supplement to be able to feed their kids,” Littlefield said. “It’s just too much.”
Federal SNAP spending reached $99.8 billion in Fiscal Year 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This funding helped roughly 41.7 million Americans a month and averaged $187.20 per participant per month.
“Seven hundred thousand people is a lot of people,” Lankford said of Oklahoma’s SNAP recipients. “That’s a lot of folks. Supplemental nutrition is just that — supplemental. It doesn’t take care of their whole month. It’s not enough to be able to take care of a family for an entire month. But it does take care of some things that are pretty important.”
Senators are currently working to find funds for the SNAP program, so these benefits do not run out. Lankford is helping colleagues with a bill that would reinstate these benefits.
“It’s a lot of people, a lot of tribal members,” said Lankford. “A lot of folks in the rural area that have a very difficult time, just financially and structurally. I am very concerned about it.”
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) introduced a bill that would fund SNAP benefits. Ten GOP senators, including Lankford, have signed onto this bill.
“There is a bill in the works right now from Sen. Hawley — a conservative Republican — that could ensure SNAP is funded,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York). “It has Republican and Democratic support. It’s a bill I’d happily support and vote for. And as soon as Leader Thune lets Sen. Hawley put it on the floor, it will pass, plain and simple.”
As families began making plans for the coming month, Cherokee Nation Chief Hoskin Jr. declared a state of emergency Wednesday.
According to a press release from the Cherokee Nation, Cherokee citizens who are SNAP recipients are now immediately eligible for the tribe’s Food Distribution Program.
“It makes me feel so much better knowing that option is there for so many people,” said Littlefield, a member of Cherokee Nation.
The nation is issuing $44.5 million in direct payments to impacted Cherokee citizens and $1.25 million to food banks and other food security organizations, along with grant money to the tribe’s Community and Cultural Outreach Program-participating nonprofits.
Other tribes are taking similar measures. The Shawnee Tribe also declared a state of emergency and issued emergency funds to SNAP recipients, the Muscogee Nation issued a box of food to eligible recipients and the Comanche Nation is providing food gift cards available to citizens. The Choctaw Nation also launched a temporary food assistance program.
“They’re trying to figure out, ‘How do we take care of our members that are vulnerable right now?'” Lankford said.
While tribal nations are doing their best to help in needed areas, food banks and other nonprofit organizations are seeing a rise in foot traffic as benefits are suspended and families struggle to find food.
“I would expect there’ll be a rush on a lot of our food banks,” said Lankford. “We have really good ones in the state that do really incredible work. A lot of churches and nonprofits that’ll step up, a lot of families and communities that [will] try to find ways to be able to help.”
However, food banks cannot fully replace SNAP benefits for all who receive them. Some food banks, such as The Mission in Norman, are struggling to keep groceries in stock. The Mission has been closing early each day this week in order to have food available until deliveries arrive the next day.
“Our partner pantries are already seeing a 37 percent increase in people asking for help for the first time,” said Stacy Dykstra, CEO of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. “SNAP is an amazing and effective first line of defense to ensure every family has the food they need on their tables. (…) For every meal that the Regional Food Bank provides, SNAP provides nine. As food banks, we are being as deliberate and intentional as we can to find every food resource we can and deploy it in the most effective way possible.”
As SNAP benefits run out this weekend, Lankford encouraged those needing support to look for resources in their community.
“Connect with their church, connect with food banks,” he said. “Do what they can to be able to partner with people that are around them.”
Programs like food banks and pantries, soup kitchens and faith-based meal services can help provide assistance to those in need. Visit Hunger Free Oklahoma for lists of resources available.
(Editor’s note: This story was originally published by Gaylord News as two separate articles. Additional information was added by NonDoc journalists as it became available late Friday.)
