“As stated in our lapse of appropriation correspondence dated October 1, 2025, SNAP has funding available for benefits and operations through the month of October,” reads a letter dated Oct. 10 from Ronald Ward, acting associate administrator of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to regional and state agency SNAP directors. “However, if the current lapse in appropriations continues, there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for approximately 42 million individuals across the Nation.”

We know that last year there were approximately 1.4 million Ohioans receiving SNAP benefits — nearly 12% of the state’s population. A significant number of those being fed with the help of SNAP are children.

U.S. Department of Agriculture administrators have already tried to shift money to help, but much of that will go to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children through the rest of this month, according to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal.

Vulnerable families are about to have to make even more difficult decisions than usual — and to be clear, this will affect Ohioans of all ages. Older residents on fixed incomes who had been getting by because SNAP helped keep them fed will suffer just as greatly as children and younger families.

Remember, some food banks are already feeling the pinch after reductions in their own funding; so, traditional safety nets may not be the answer this time around, either.

Why? Because lawmakers are willing to sacrifice these folks rather than compromise. Because they believe voters will not notice where their loyalties really lie. Perhaps they believe a hungry voter is less likely to make it to the polls, anyway.

Perhaps they’re not giving vulnerable Ohioans — and those across the country — any thought at all.

State lawmakers could find opportunities to step in and try to fill some of the gaps, but — assuming they would try — that can’t be the whole of the response to this crisis for hungry families.

It is time for someone in Washington, D.C., to decide this game of chicken — a game in which the losers will not be one party or the other, but everyday citizens already facing almost insurmountable challenges — must end. It is time for someone to have the guts to stand up for them, to be willing to work toward a solution rather than hide behind dangerous party politics.

Who will it be?