- SNAP benefit cutoff amid the prolonged shutdown left vulnerable families—often Trump voters—scrambling for essential food and medication supplies.
- The administration’s decision sparked legal challenges, state interventions, and promises of partial payments while millions face immediate hunger.
- Economic pain is shifting voter sentiment, fueling disillusionment among GOP supporters and threatening Republican prospects in upcoming elections.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Betty Szretter thought she was voting for a stronger America last November, one with tighter borders and less government waste. The 63-year-old retiree from Buffalo had backed Donald Trump for years, drawn to his promises of shaking up Washington.
But as she watches her 26-year-old daughter Hannah skip meals to manage Type 1 diabetes—a condition Hannah’s had since she was 10—Szretter’s faith is crumbling.
The family’s lifeline, a $300 monthly SNAP benefit, vanished over the weekend amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, leaving them scrambling for basics while the president parties on.
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“It all seems very selfish,” Szretter told NBC News on Monday, her voice cracking over the phone from her modest home. She retired last year to care for Hannah, who also battles a mental health disorder that keeps her from holding a job.
Those SNAP dollars weren’t luxuries; they bought the steady supply of low-sugar foods Hannah needs to keep her blood sugar stable. Now, with grocery prices climbing and no federal checks in sight, Szretter’s staring down empty shelves.
“Now he’s busy out of the country and demolishing the White House,” she added, referencing Trump’s recent Asia trip and the $300 million East Wing ballroom project that’s already sparked lawsuits over its flashy excess.
Trump Voters Have Been Hit the Hardest
Szretter’s not alone in her disillusionment. Her story, first detailed in a Daily Beast profile this week, has rippled across living rooms and social media, tapping into a raw vein of regret among some Trump voters hit hardest by the shutdown’s fallout.
The impasse, now stretching past 40 days, has furloughed 750,000 federal workers and left hundreds of thousands more unpaid, costing the economy up to $14 billion weekly, according to economists.
At its core: a funding standoff over Trump’s MAGA priorities, from immigration enforcement to tax cuts that critics say favor the wealthy. But it’s the lapse in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding—serving 42 million Americans, or one in eight people—that’s turning stomachs from coast to coast.
SNAP, the modern iteration of food stamps launched in 1964, has weathered past shutdowns without a hitch—even during Trump’s first term. This time, the Agriculture Department declared the “well has run dry,” halting November payouts despite billions in contingency funds sitting idle.
A federal judge in Washington ruled last Friday that the administration must tap those reserves, calling the cutoff an “arbitrary and capricious act” that risked a nationwide hunger crisis.
Trump responded on Truth Social, saying he’d seek court clarification to “legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.” By Monday, the USDA backtracked slightly, promising just half the usual benefits—about $146 max for a single person—leaving families like the Szretters in limbo for weeks.
SNAP Expired Saturday, What Happens Now?
The timing couldn’t have been crueler. SNAP expired Saturday, the same night Trump hosted a glitzy Halloween bash at Mar-a-Lago, themed around F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby—a novel skewering the hollow decadence of the ultra-rich.
Guests in flapper garb sipped cocktails amid gold-leaf decor, while commentators like California Gov. Gavin Newsom called out the irony on social media: a critique of inequality playing out as millions faced empty pantries.
“Dining rooms, not ballrooms,” Szretter shot back in a CNN interview the next day, her words cutting through the partisan fog.
“I believe the Trump administration, instead of focusing on presidential ballrooms, should be paying attention to individual Americans’ dining rooms.”
That plea has struck a chord. In Milwaukee, retiree Sandra—too wary to share her last name—told The Guardian she’s “dumbfounded by the cruelty,” fearing this is just the start of a push to gut SNAP for good. “My sense is Trump will try to make SNAP benefits permanently end during the shutdown,” she said, her voice heavy with the weight of decades relying on the program after health issues sidelined her.
Across the country, Democratic attorneys general from states like Arizona, California, and Massachusetts sued the administration last week, arguing the cuts are “unnecessary and illegal.”
A coalition of 24 states won a temporary injunction, but distribution delays could drag on, with some governors—like New York’s Kathy Hochul—declaring emergencies to front local funds.
Voter Sentiment Changes, Calls for Bipartisan Push
Polls paint a grim picture for Republicans. An NBC survey shows 52% of voters blame the GOP for the shutdown, up from earlier weeks, with Trump’s disapproval hitting a record 63%—his worst ever. Even in red strongholds, the pain is bipartisan.
Food policy expert Christopher Bosso, a Northeastern University professor, notes that while no comprehensive studies map SNAP recipients’ voting habits, “I have no doubt that the cuts will affect Republican voters.”
Rural areas, a Trump bedrock, stand to lose big: USA Today reports that if elected Republicans from farm country “truly cared about their constituents,” they’d push for compromise. Instead, the impasse drags, with community food pantries already overwhelmed and mutual aid groups begging for donations.
Szretter still nods to Trump’s immigration hardline—”I believe in making America great again that way,” she told CNN—but the rest feels like betrayal. “He promised to lower prices for Americans, and I don’t see that happening right now,” she said.
Her daughter Hannah echoed the frustration to NBC: the benefits aren’t handouts; they’re survival tools for managing a chronic illness on a fixed income. Szretter’s mulling her 2026 midterm vote through the lens of her wallet—and her fridge.
“Whether I vote red again will depend on what they do for my pocketbook.” Her regret mirrors a quiet swell of second thoughts among Trump’s base. In West Virginia coal country, former supporters laid off by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts—a Trump brainchild aimed at slashing “waste”—are whispering about buyer’s remorse.
One ex-federal worker, interviewed by CNN in March, called herself a “MAGA junkie” turned critic: “We didn’t vote for my husband to lose his government career and benefits.”
Farmers in the heartland, hit by USAID funding freezes, are pulling Trump signs as tariffs bite their bottom lines. Even teachers in red districts, facing classroom crunches from federal aid shortfalls, are venting online: “If we have federal cuts, then that’s going to mean bigger class sizes. I would lose teachers, first and foremost. It’s devastating.”
A BuzzFeed roundup from February captured 27 such voices: “My heart breaks just thinking my vote contributed to this,” one wrote, after Medicaid trims threatened family coverage.
Another, a rural mom, fumed, “I think it’s time everyone who voted for Trump admit that we made a f****** mess.” Polling backs the shift—CNN’s Harry Enten warned this week that Trump’s -35 approval in New York alone could spell doom for GOP mayoral and gubernatorial races Tuesday, portending a 2026 House flip if Democrats sweep.
GOP heavyweights sense the storm. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, rarely shy, told interviewers two weeks ago: “I can’t see into the future, but I see Republicans losing the House if Americans are continuing to go paycheck-to-paycheck.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, reflecting on anti-Trump “No Kings” protests last month, urged his party: “Unquestionably, we should take political peril seriously. There is a lot of anger.”
Senate Democrats like Oregon’s Jeff Merkley tried forcing a non-binding SNAP funding vote Monday; Republicans shot it down.
What Now?
As off-year elections unfold today—from New Jersey’s governorship to New York City’s mayoral contest—these stories aren’t just anecdotes. They’re warnings.
For Szretter, tallying her grocery list on a shoestring, the abstract promises of 2024 feel miles from her kitchen table.
“I’d prefer a Democrat in office to protect benefits he wants to cut,” she told NBC flatly. In a divided Washington, that’s the kind of line that could rewrite ballots come next year.
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