The Department of Human Resources said Monday it would suspend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on November 1.
By: Anna Barnett, Alabama Reflector


More than 750,000 Alabamians, almost half of them children, will lose critical food assistance on Saturday, November 1, 2025
The Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) said Monday that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will be suspended on Saturday. The suspension of the 100% federally-funded program comes on the 26th day of the government shutdown. Alabama DHR was notified of the suspension on Friday evening. 
“We know SNAP benefits are vitally important to the more than 750,000 Alabamians who depend on the more than $140 million in support each month. Alabama DHR, along with many others, hopes Congress will come to a quick resolution on the federal government shutdown,” Commissioner Nancy Buckner said.
The 750,000 Alabamians affected represent nearly 15% of the state population. Of that number, 330,000 (44%) are children, according to DHR.
DHR said in its Monday statement that Alabamians can still apply for SNAP, even though DHR will not be able to administer any benefits. Buckner also said the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) told her on Friday that it plans to reimburse state administrative costs for November. 
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Alabama, joined other House Democrats on Friday in urging Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to release SNAP contingency funds that Congress made available for situations like this, according to a release. Sewell said nearly a quarter of households in her district, which covers the western side of the Black Belt and parts of Birmingham, rely on SNAP.
“For so many, SNAP means the difference between a hot meal and going to bed hungry. The fact that President Trump and congressional Republicans would rather take food away from hungry families than work with Democrats to end this shutdown is shameful but not surprising,” Sewell said in a statement. “These are the same people responsible for making the largest cut to SNAP in American history less than four months ago.”
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), Alabama officials were aware that federal funding for SNAP would reduce in fiscal year 2027, increasing the state’s share. According to estimates in August, the federal cuts to the program would increase DHR’s budget request by $35 million in FY27 and $208 million in FY28 when the state is responsible for 10% of SNAP benefits. 
The federal government shutdown is a dispute over health care. Republicans in Congress lack the votes to overcome a budget filibuster. Democrats say they want a bipartisan agreement to extend looming cuts in subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans. Republicans said they won’t negotiate that until a stopgap spending bill is passed. 
Gina Maiola, Gov. Kay Ivey’s communications director said in a statement Monday that Ivey hopes Senate Democrats will “get on board” to reopen the federal government.
Laura Lester, CEO of Feeding Alabama, a food bank network, said in an interview Monday afternoon that she is very concerned about how families will access food. For every meal that Feeding Alabama provides, SNAP provides nine.
“So as a result, anytime there’s even a small reduction in SNAP, we see a significant increase in the demand on our food banks,” Lester said. “We’re deeply concerned about what this is going to look like.”
Typically, Lester said Feeding Alabama serves both SNAP recipients and non-SNAP recipients. A SNAP recipient gets $6 per day per month to buy groceries. Lester said that money usually lasts about three weeks, then SNAP recipients go to food banks.
“Folks work as hard as they can to help that money stretch, but it’s become, obviously, harder and harder with the increased grocery prices,” Lester said.
Last year, she said, Feeding Alabama and its partners distributed over 90 million pounds of food. Lester said that Feeding Alabama needs a lot of support from the community in donations and manpower to sort and pack meals.