WASHINGTON -- Tens of millions of Americans could be left hanging at the grocery store if Congress can't reach a funding deal before the end of the month.
The Senate will vote on a funding bill Monday, but it's not clear what the House will do, since a faction of Republican members are so intent on shutting down a women's health services provider that they're also willing to shut down the government.
A shutdown would furlough thousands of federal workers and interrupt a range of services, one of the biggest being the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Often known by its former name, food stamps, the program provides monthly food benefits for 45 million Americans.
Not having SNAP would be a problem for Taylor Futch of Hartford, Tennessee. She said she's been unemployed since a mass layoff at the call center where she worked earlier this year. Twice, she went to the Tennessee Department of Human Services office in Newport and left without applying for food stamps, she said. It was only after four months of unemployment that she found the nerve.
"It took a lot of swallowing my pride to ask for help," Futch, 31, told The Huffington Post. She said she'd worked her entire adult life and never imagined she'd be so poor.
"I'll be the first to admit I did come to a point where I looked down on people," she said.
Futch said she's a single mom with an 11-month-old daughter, and she looks forward to the 4th of every month for the $360 deposit on the debit card she uses to buy food.
"By no means does it cover all over our groceries, all of the formula and the foods she's eating now," Futch said. "If they shut this program down, I really don't know how I will be able to feed my daughter."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, seems to be preparing for Congress to act at the last minute. On Sept. 18, the department told state agencies that distribute SNAP to hold off on beginning to disburse October's benefits in case Congress failed to strike a deal. On Wednesday, the department reversed itself, telling states to resume the process. There can be a lag between when states send "issuance files" to the vendors that handle the debit cards and when money actually appears in people's accounts at the beginning of the month.
"If Congress passes a funding bill, and does not cause a lapse in appropriations then October benefits will be issued in full to all recipients, as per standard operating procedure," the USDA said Wednesday in a letter to state agencies.
If Congress forces a shutdown, on the other hand, the USDA said it will resort to measures "including the de-authorization of retailers in the first several days of the month to prevent SNAP benefits from being redeemed during an appropriations lapse."
After Senate Democrats blocked a government funding bill that would have also defunded Planned Parenthood, Senate Republicans said they will hold a vote on a clean appropriations bill next Monday. House Republicans will hold a meeting on Friday to discuss strategy.