What to know as federal food help and preschool aid will run dry Saturday if shutdown persists

A new lawsuit by Democratic state officials Tuesday seeks to uncork emergency money to help tens of millions of Americans keep buying food for their families after federal SNAP funding is expected to run dry Saturday due to the U.S. government shutdown.

- By JONATHAN MATTISE and GEOFF MULVIHILL

((Pexels/Julia M. Camero))

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, helps about one in eight Americans buy groceries. A halt to SNAP benefits would leave a gaping hole in the country's safety net. Vulnerable families could see federal money dry up soon for some other programs, as well.

Funding for a group of Head Start preschool programs is set to run out Saturday.

Aid for mothers to care for their newborns through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, could run out the following week.

Here's a look at what would happen.

Democratic officials sue

Tuesday's legal filing from attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia, plus three governors, focuses on a federal contingency fund with roughly $5 billion in it — enough to pay for the benefits for more than half a month.

President Donald Trump's Department of Agriculture said in September that its plan for a shutdown included using the money to keep SNAP running. But in a memo last week, it said that it couldn't legally use that money for such a purpose.

The Democratic officials contend the administration is legally required to keep benefits going as long as it has funding.

The agency said beneficiaries who use debit cards as part of SNAP to buy groceries will not have their cards reloaded as of Nov. 1.

With their own coalition, 19 Republican state attorneys general sent Democratic U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer a letter Tuesday urging passage of a “clean continuing resolution” to keep funding SNAP benefits.