A food aid program designed to help low-income pregnant women, new mothers, and young children get access to healthy food, nutrition education, and health care referrals will be funded through October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture told congressional staff Thursday in a briefing, reports Politico.
The plan involves using $300 million in tariff revenue from child nutrition programs left over from the prior calendar year to fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which was expecting fresh federal funding as the new fiscal year started on Oct. 1.
The government shutdown has reached Day 10, and the $8 billion WIC program, which helps more than 6 million low-income mothers and young children, was being kept afloat by a $150 million contingency fund.
States have already spent nearly all of that money.
USDA spokesperson Alec Varsamis declined to comment on the report but did confirm the Trump administration’s intentions to fund the program.
“While Democrats continue to vote to prolong the government shutdown, blocking funding for mothers and babies who rely on [WIC], USDA will utilize tariff revenue to fund WIC for the foreseeable future,” Varsamis told Politico in a statement.
The White House two days ago said it found funding to keep WIC afloat.
“President Trump and the White House have identified a creative solution to transfer resources from Section 232 tariff revenue to this critical program,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios.
“The Trump White House will not allow impoverished mothers and their babies to go hungry because of the Democrats’ political games.”
The federal government during fiscal 2024 spent over $7 billion to fund WIC.
The government shutdown stretched into its second week Friday as partisan gridlock in Congress showed no signs of easing, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed.
Lawmakers remain deadlocked over whether to include Affordable Care Act subsidy extensions in a short-term funding bill, with Republicans urging the issue be addressed later and Democrats demanding it be resolved now.
The White House confirmed that layoffs across multiple agencies have begun, including at the IRS, which is furloughing more than 30,000 workers. Essential operations such as air traffic control continue, but public services — from museum operations to nutrition programs — face mounting strain as the standoff drags on.
Newsmax Wires contributed to this report.
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