If the federal government shutdown continues, Minnesota will run out of money to pay for benefits like food stamps, cash programs, and employment support.

That's the message from Head of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families Tikki Brown, who issued a warning to county and tribal leaders across the state in a letter sent Wednesday.

Brown says the state received word from USDA officials late last week that if the shutdown continues into November, there will not be enough money to pay for SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps. The USDA oversees SNAP benefits.

She also said that the USDA has ordered states to stop processing SNAP applications and "delay transmission to state EBT vendors until further notice." Minnesota has stopped processing pending SNAP applications as of

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