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Two weeks ago, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that the ongoing government shutdown was “starting to cut into muscle.” Now it appears to be nearing the bone: For the first time in its 61-year history, SNAP, the federal food-assistance program for low- and no-income people, is set to run out of money. If November’s payments don’t arrive in people’s accounts on Saturday, roughly 42 million Americans will need to figure out another way to pay for their meals.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees SNAP, announced in a memo that it would not tap into the rough

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