Newsom says Trump ‘endangering lives’ as shutdown sets stage for delayed food benefits

California governor Gavin Newsom warned Monday that Donald Trump’s increasingly long government shutdown will impact those who rely on federal food support, likely delaying benefits as families are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving in November.

“Trump’s failure to open the federal government is now endangering people’s lives and making basic needs like food more expensive – just as the holidays arrive,” Newsom said. “It is long past time for Republicans in Congress to grow a spine, stand up to Trump, and deliver for the American people.”

Extensive cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) – which provides benefits to 41.7 million Americans – were already approved in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed earlier this summer, putting increasing strain on food banks and low-income Americans. The impending November interruption adds further weight, especially when bundled in with rising food costs.

Republicans, in control of the White House, and with majorities in the House and Senate, are placing responsibility for the shutdown on congressional Democrats.

“Because of the Democrat shutdown, there are not enough funds to provide SNAP for 40 million Americans come November 1,” Brooke Rollins, US secretary of agriculture, posted on X on 17 October.

Department of Social Services websites in red and blue states have warnings posted regarding the potential lapse in Snap benefits. Democratic governors across the country are laying the blame at the feet of the Trump administration. Newsom’s office said that 5.5 million Californians use Snap benefits, and that 63% of the beneficiaries are children or elderly people.

The impending November cessation adds further weight, especially when bundled in with rising food costs.

The shutdown, which began on 1 October, has become one of the longest in US history, with no clear end in sight. Votes continue to fail in the Senate, and SMike Johnson, the US House speaker, has yet to resume session after the recess. Alongside Snap cuts and higher grocery bills, some low-income Americans have to gear up for a colder winter, as the shutdown grinds funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to a halt.

While no solutions have been found for groceries or heat, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, has said that 70,000 agents across the department will be paid through the shutdown, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents and US border patrol.

The Snap recipients hoping for guidance on navigating the shutdown will find little assistance on the program’s website.

“Due to the Radical Left Democrat shutdown, this government website will not be updated during the funding lapse,” a banner at the top of the webpage reads.