October 27, 2025 11:45 a.m. 

Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have urged the Trump administration to release the billions of dollars at its disposal to ensure that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits continue next month in Oregon and nationwide.

In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, the senators and a large group of their colleagues said, “We were deeply disturbed to hear that the USDA has instructed states to stop processing SNAP benefits for November and were surprised by your recent comments that the program will ‘run out of money in two weeks’”. The letter continued, “In fact the USDA has several tools available which would enable SNAP benefits to be paid through or close to the end of November”.

The letter said that the USDA must, at a minimum under the law, use the contingency funding that is available for SNAP, as noted by USDA officials. The lawmakers continued, “Second, the USDA has interchange authority under 7 U.S.C. 2257 that permits the transfer of funds from other USDA nutrition programs. In fact, this authority was recently used by the USDA when it transferred money from child nutrition programs to the WIC account to maintain WIC benefits during the shutdown”.

The lawmakers concluded, “Americans are already struggling with the rising cost of groceries, and they cannot afford a sudden lapse in grocery assistance. We urge you to immediately communicate to states and committees of jurisdiction the USDA’s plans to disburse the contingency funding to state agencies and utilize all available legal authorities so that American families can get benefits without interruption”.

The release said in Oregon, an estimated 757,000 people are at risk of losing their SNAP benefits in November if the USDA does not use available funding to continue the program.