SAN ANTONIO – Every car in the San Antonio Food Bank line contains a story of struggle. Lately, many of them have had to do with the federal shutdown.
One woman in line who hadn’t received her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for November said she was using money to pay for bills to buy food instead.
Another SNAP recipient said meat “hasn’t been on the table for the last two months.”
The federal shutdown resulted in an interruption of SNAP benefits in November, though state officials confirmed Monday that partial benefits would be distributed. On top of that, many of the 38,000 federal employees in the San Antonio area aren’t drawing a paycheck.
Michael Guerra, the food bank’s chief philanthropy officer, said they’ve seen their lines grow since the shutdown began Oct. 1. They’re now helping another 50,000 or so people each week on top of the 105,000 to 120,000 they usually see, attributing nearly all of it to the shutdown.
“So we saw people maybe just hedging their bet, ‘Maybe I’m going to get SNAP, maybe I’ll get a paycheck, maybe I won’t, but I’m going to be prepared,’ and they leaned on the San Antonio Food Bank and our partners to be prepared that way,” Guerra said.
But now, a possible end to the shutdown is in sight. A group of Senate Democrats and an independent senator have broken with their caucus and voted with Republicans to reopen the government.
It is unclear when the Senate will hold final votes on the legislation, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he hopes passage would be swift. Still, an end could be days away if any senators object.
The legislation would still need to clear the House before the government could reopen. Speaker Mike Johnson urged lawmakers to start returning to Washington “right now” given travel delays, but he said he would issue an official notice for the House’s return once the Senate passes the legislation.
President Donald Trump expressed support for the agreement Monday.
“We’re going to be opening up our country very quickly,” Trump said.
Guerra said it would be a relief for the food bank and the people it serves for the government to reopen.
“Whether it’s ‘I’m going to get my SNAP benefit for November, I might get it late,’ or, ‘I’m actually getting a paycheck, and I’ve missed a couple of those,’” Guerra said, “that’s a relief for us, but we know it’s a release for our families."
However, the deal the senators reached with Republicans does not include any resolution though on the issues at the heart of the shutdown: Democrats’ desire to extend subsidies for health plans offered under the Affordable Care Act.
At the San Antonio International Airport, Vince Hoppe, who was visiting from Colorado, said he had used some of the subsidies but could manage without them.
“Who wouldn’t want an extra $150 in your pocket every month, you know? And so, yeah, sure. I mean, absolutely, you would love them back. But there’s other considerations at play,” Hoppe said.
In the food bank’s afternoon distribution line, the pair of SNAP recipients KSAT spoke with had mixed feelings about Democrats agreeing to end the shutdown without getting an extension for the subsidies.
“I can go hand-in-hand either way,” Linda Lanthrip said.
George Herrera told KSAT he prays that the shutdown is “over and done with” while also saying the subsidies were “worth fighting for” and “You’ve gone this far. What else do we have to lose?”
“I just hope everybody walks away with what they want,” he said when KSAT asked about the shutdown ending without getting the subsidies extended. “And I hope it was worth it, because we’re the ones suffering."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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