N.M. Delegation Presses USDA to Refund New Mexico $30 Million for Shutdown Food Stamps Lapse
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On December 2, 2025, U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) was joined by Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03) and Melanie Stansbury (NM-01) as well as U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) in demanding that the federal government reimburse New Mexico $30 million for the emergency state funds used to protect hardworking New Mexicans’ from a lapse in their November food assistance during the most recent government shutdown.
The New Mexico delegation sent a letter pressing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for accountability to New Mexico taxpayers after the USDA purposefully withheld November SNAP benefits it had the legal obligation to fund.
“Funding SNAP is a federal responsibility, and New Mexican taxpayers should not be penalized for your failure to fulfill your duty,” the members wrote. “No state should have to raid their own budgets to fix a problem the administration created. In New Mexico, this failure placed more than 450,000 SNAP recipients at immediate risk of going without the food assistance they rely on each month.”
The text of the letter is below and available here.
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Dear Director Vought and Secretary Rollins:
We write to demand full and immediate reimbursement to the State of New Mexico for the $30 million it was forced to reallocate to provide food assistance to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients for the month of November during the federal government shutdown. Funding SNAP is a federal responsibility, and New Mexican taxpayers should not be penalized for your failure to fulfill your duty.
During the shutdown, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) refused to issue SNAP benefits despite having sufficient funding and transfer authority available to issue full benefits. After multiple court orders, USDA eventually allowed states to issue benefits, but their repeated appeals and conflicting guidance caused further delays and confusion — leaving more working-class Americans needlessly hungry every step of the way. New Mexico’s governor did what the administration would not: she kept children, seniors, and people with disabilities fed. No state should have to raid their own budgets to fix a problem the administration created. In New Mexico, this failure placed more than 450,000 SNAP recipients at immediate risk of going without the food assistance they rely on each month. Fortunately, the State of New Mexico stepped in and provided $30 million in food assistance to prevent a hunger crisis, protect vulnerable households, ensure continuity across local food systems, and sustain local economies.
This was not the only federal responsibility New Mexico has been forced to shoulder. In addition to the $30 million stopgap for SNAP, the state had already reallocated $162 million to protect residents who would have lost Medicaid coverage and Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits because of the Republican tax law. These programs — SNAP, Medicaid, and ACA subsidies — are core federal obligations, and no state should be forced to backfill federal programs. New Mexico acted responsibly under extraordinary circumstances, and it must not bear the long-term financial burden for failures at the federal level.
Congress has already made its intent clear. The Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act includes explicit language under Section 118 authorizing reimbursement to states that used their own funds to cover programs “that would have been paid” by the federal government during the shutdown. The directive is unambiguous: USDA and OMB are required to repay states in full.
We therefore expect USDA and OMB to move quickly to restore New Mexico’s funds and execute the reimbursement without delay. The federal government has a duty to make New Mexico whole, and we insist that responsibility be met immediately.
We stand ready to assist in ensuring this directive is carried out and expect timely confirmation that New Mexico’s reimbursement is being processed.
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