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Federal services, agencies slowly returning after government shutdown ends

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — After 43 days, the longest federal government shutdown in history is history after President Donald Trump late Wednesday night signed the funding bill passed in both chambers of Congress.

With the bill now signed, federal agencies and services are expected to immediately return to normal; however, some benefits, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, will take a little time to be doled out.

The spending bill reopens and funds the federal government until Jan. 30, 2026, with some agencies like the Department of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs funded through the end of the fiscal year.

Here’s what to know about the government reopening.

When will federal employees return to work?

At least 670,000 federal employees were furloughed during the shutdown, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Furloughed employees are expected to return to work immediately and there is some indication that those orders have gone out to specific agencies.

Furloughed employees at Health and Human Services were told to “report for duty” on Thursday, according to a memo obtained by ABC News.

“If HHS employees do not have previously approved leave scheduled, or do not get leave approved, then they will be “considered absent without leave (AWOL),” the memo reads.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) also told agencies Thursday that they should consider “the disruption in the lives and routines of furloughed employees.”

Back pay and undoing Trump firings

Federal workers deemed essential, including Capitol Police officers, Transportation Security Administration workers and air traffic controllers, were forced to work without pay during the shutdown.

During the shutdown, the administration issued layoffs through Reduction in Force orders for federal workers in various agencies.

All federal workers are entitled to back pay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, signed into law by Trump during the now-second-longest shutdown in his first term in office.

The law covers both furloughed employees and those required to work without pay during a government shutdown.

The funding bill includes additional language to reverse Trump administration firings during the shutdown and ensures that furloughed workers receive back pay.

It also includes language to prevent any additional reductions in force until the next government funding deadline on Jan. 30, 2026.

When will SNAP benefits get doled out?

The bill includes a provision to fully fund SNAP benefits through the end of September 2026.

The money is expected to be doled out soon, but the timetable has not been revealed by officials.

Federal courts ordered the administration to pay SNAP benefits during the shutdown, however, the administration went to the Supreme Court to get the order paused as the appeals litigation continued.

On Thursday, the administration withdrew its case.

Solicitor General John Sauer said in a filing that the “underlying dispute here is now moot.”

When do D.C.’s museums open?

All of the Smithsonian museums have been closed since Oct. 12 after running out of funding.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazey Center will reopen on Nov. 14, according to a notice on its website.

“All other museums, research centers, and the National Zoo will reopen on a rolling basis by Monday, Nov. 17,” the message read.

When will the air traffic system be fully staffed?

The shortage of air traffic controllers, who were not furloughed, was so dire during the shutdown that the Federal Aviation Administration was forced to reduce flights by 10% at 40 airports — leading to thousands of flights being canceled and delayed across the country.

As many as 15 to 20 controllers resigned during the shutdown, according to the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

Duffy told reporters Tuesday that air traffic controllers will get 70% of their back pay within 24 to 48 hours of the reopening.

It could take up to a week for air travel to return to normal operations after the government shutdown ends, Airlines for America President and CEO Chris Sununu said at a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.

Sununu said he doesn’t see any impacts lasting into the holiday season.

“I don’t think any flights over the Thanksgiving week have actually been canceled yet. I think the airlines have been pretty tight working with the FAA looking a few days out to be sure,” he said.

Where do Obamacare subsidies stand?

Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that Democrats held out for during the shutdown were not included in the Senate deal to reopen the government, which passed with the help of eight moderate Democrats.

The enhanced ACA tax credits don’t expire until Dec. 31, and if no deal is reached, health premiums will jump for more than 20 million Americans.

Sources told ABC News on Monday that Senate Republican leadership promised to allow a vote on a bill of Democrats’ choosing related to the ACA in December.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to holding a vote in the House on the subsidies.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday filed a discharge petition to extend the Obamacare subsidies. He would need a few House Republicans to vote with Democrats for it to pass.

Sen. John Fetterman hospitalized after fall near his home

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(PITTSBURGH) — Sen. John Fetterman’s office said the Pennsylvania Democrat is under “routine observation” in a Pittsburgh hospital after he fell during an early morning walk Thursday near his home in Braddock, Pennsylvania.

“It was established he had a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that led to Senator Fetterman feeling light-headed, falling to the ground and hitting his face with minor injuries,” a statement from his office said.

“If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now!” Fetterman said, according to the statement.

Fetterman opted to stay in the hospital so doctors can “fine-tune his medication regimen,” the statement said.

Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022 during the Democratic primary for the state’s open Senate seat. Despite his condition limiting his campaigning, he won the Democratic nomination and later defeated Dr. Mehmet Oz, now President Donald Trump’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, in the general election.

The following February, Fetterman was hospitalized for several days of observation after feeling lightheaded, though his aides said testing ruled out seizures or another stroke.

Weeks later, Fetterman checked himself into a Washington hospital for treatment of depression.

“While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” Adam Jentleson, his chief of staff, said at the time.

Evacuation warnings in place as heavy rain could slam California burn scar areas, causing mudslides, debris flows

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — Evacuation warnings are in place for parts of Southern California as an incoming storm could bring potential mudslides and debris flows to burn scar areas, according to county officials.

“Anyone in these areas should be ready to leave at a moment’s notice,” Los Angeles County officials said in a statement.

The evacuation warnings are in effect for the following burn scar areas: Canyon, Bethany, Eaton, Palisades, Hurst, Kenneth, Sunset, Lidia, Franklin and Bridge, according to officials.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday that emergency resources will be pre-deployed ahead of the storm to protect communities in the Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties from mudslides and debris flow.

This storm — which is a moderate atmospheric river building along a cold front — will begin to hit areas of Northern and Central California, Washington and Oregon on Thursday before slamming parts of Southern California.

Heavy rain will push through the Bay Area and Sacramento on Thursday morning, bringing up to 4 inches of rain in some areas, before traveling south to Los Angeles late Thursday into Friday morning.

Rain, heavy at times, will continue across Southern California on Friday and Saturday, with 1 to 3 inches of rain expected across much of Western California — although some localized areas at higher elevation could receive more.

Over just two days, Friday and Saturday, higher elevations around Santa Barbara could see 4 to 6 inches of rain, bringing the threat of rockslides, landslides and debris flow through the weekend and into next week as more rain continues over these saturated soils.

This system will also force below-average temperatures over Southern California, with scattered showers remaining a possibility on Sunday through at least Tuesday.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department said anyone living in burned or flood-prone areas should “stay away from flood channels, catch basins, canyons and waterways which are vulnerable to floods” and if people have to evacuate, to “return to your home only after local authorities have said it is safe to do so.”

The evacuation warnings in Southern California will be in effect through Sunday, officials said.

Rep. LaMonica McIver must face federal charges over incident at ICE detention center, judge rules

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEWARK, N.J.) — Congresswoman LaMonica McIver must face at least two of three federal charges accusing her of assaulting and impeding immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center after federal judge on Thursday rejected her attempt to dismiss the case.

The New Jersey Democrat was charged with three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials following her May 9 visit to Delaney Hall, a privately owned, 1,000-bed facility in Newark that ICE uses as a detention center.

The government alleges McIver intervened as federal agents attempted to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper turned down McIver’s arguments that she is immune from prosecution under the Speech or Debate Clause.

“Impeding an arrest, whether lawful or unlawful, goes beyond any reasonable definition of oversight and, accordingly, exceeds the safe harbor of legislative immunity,” Semper wrote in an order published Thursday.

McIver’s actions as described in count one, which alleged she placed her arms around the mayor in an attempt to thwart his arrest and then slammed her forearm into a federal agent, were “wholly disconnected from the oversight she and the Representatives later conducted when touring the facility, where they engaged in protected fact-finding related to federal immigration policy,” the judge continued. “Defendant’s presence at Delaney Hall does not grant constitutional protection for every act performed in connection to that visit.”

Semper said he is still considering whether the Speech and Debate Clause might apply to count two — which alleged she forcibly struck an ICE officer following the arrest — noting, “the factual record is still being developed.”

The judge also rejected McIver’s argument that her case amounted to selective and vindictive prosecution by a Republican administration that called her visit to Delaney Hall a “reckless stunt.”

“Defendant has not demonstrated that her prosecution is a result of personal animus harbored by the prosecution,” Semper said.

McIver has pleaded not guilty. The trial was supposed to start this week but had been delayed pending the judge’s ruling.

She has alleged the prosecution is politically motivated, and her office called the charges “baseless.”

“This is Trump weaponizing the DOJ for people who speak out against him, for members and elected leaders who do their jobs to hold this administration accountable,” she said at a press event following her arraignment in June. “We will not be intimidated.”

Tensions escalated at the facility when a federal officer ordered Baraka to leave a secured area of the facility or face arrest, and pushing and shoving allegedly occurred, according to prosecutors.

Baraka was arrested at the facility and charged with trespassing, which was later dropped.

Who are the 6 House Democrats who broke with their party to end shutdown?

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The longest government shutdown in U.S. history came to an end on Wednesday night, after six House Democrats joined Republicans to pass a funding package in a narrow 222-209 vote.

The Democrats’ defections helped push the bill over the finish line, as two Republicans opposed against the measure to reopen the government. President Donald Trump signed the bill in the Oval Office shortly after it was passed.

The moderate Democrats who voted yes were Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Adam Gray of California, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas and Tom Suozzi of New York.

They all cited the growing impacts of the shutdown on Americans as a reason why they moved to end the 43-day impasse, despite Democratic leadership opposing the funding package because it does not address their key demand of extending Affordable Care Act tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year.

“Tonight, I voted to end this partisan car crash of a shutdown. Nobody likes paying even more money to insurance companies — and the fight to stop runaway health insurance premiums won’t be won by holding hungry Americans hostage,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in a statement. “Americans can’t afford for their Representatives to get so caught up in landing a partisan win that they abandon their obligation to come together to solve the urgent problems that our nation faces.”

Gray said it was not a “perfect deal,” but one “born of compromise,” and touted how the bill will extend funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and SNAP for a full fiscal year.

“Some critics have asked why I supported the bill when it did not include an immediate extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits. Here’s why: Protecting families from hunger today does not prevent us from lowering health care costs tomorrow,” he said.

“People are hurting right now — they are in pain!” Davis said after the vote.

When asked by ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott if the impacts of the shutdown outweighed everything else, Davis said “absolutely.”

“And it is listening and hearing from constituents who are deeply, deeply concerned. They’ve been affected in ways that we don’t even understand,” he told ABC News’ Scott.

“Parents are telling their kids to eat more at school because they don’t know if they’re going to be able to eat when they get home,” Davis continued, adding “This is real.”

But Democrats are now dealing with infighting after eight Senate Democrats and the six House Democrats broke ranks to end the shutdown without a deal on ACA subsidies. The agreement to end the shutdown included a promise from Senate Republican leadership to hold a vote on health care subsidies in the coming weeks, but Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to such a vote in the House.

Democrats who voted to reopen the government said the fight will continue on the ACA, as premiums are set to skyrocket for recipients next year.

“Now, with the shutdown ended, Congress should take immediate action to extend expiring ACA premium tax credits that keep health insurance plans affordable for millions of Americans. We still have a window to pass bipartisan legislation to extend these credits,” Golden said.

Suozzi echoed that sentiment.

“Everyone knows that I have been preaching bipartisanship for years. I am relying on the representations of some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, that they want to get something done to extend the Premium Tax Credits,” Suozzi said.

“If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are willing to work together to address this health insurance affordability crisis by extending the premium tax credits, then we will have accomplished something meaningful,” the New York Democrat added. “If we are not successful, it will deal yet another blow to the already eroding trust in Washington, D.C., and it will be clear who failed to deliver.”

ABC News’ Arthur Jones II contributed to this report.

Jim Avila, former longtime ABC News senior correspondent, dies at 69

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Jim Avila, a former longtime ABC News senior correspondent, whose investigative journalism earned him several of the most prestigious awards in broadcast news, has died. He was 69.

His death after a long illness was announced internally by ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic.

“Jim was a gifted journalist and a generous colleague,” Karamehmedovic said in an email to staff.

Avila had also a been 20/20 correspondent based in Los Angeles before departing from the network in 2021. He specialized in politics, justice, law and consumer investigations.

“As the Senior Law and Justice Correspondent, he has covered every major trial from Jerry Sandusky and Penn State to Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson and countless others,” according to his ABC News official biography. “He led reports on immigration, making several trips to the southern border to document stories of immigrants, and also covered the death of Freddie Gray and civil unrest in Baltimore.”

He covered the White House from 2012 to 2016, during President Barack Obama’s second term.

“He won the prestigious Merriman Award from the White House Correspondents Association for breaking the news that the United States and Cuba had reopened diplomatic relations,” the biography said.

He earned numerous awards, including two National Emmy Awards and five Edward R. Murrow Awards, the biography said. His work also won him the prestigious Cine Golden Eagle Award, the Mongerson Prize for Investigative Reporting and five Chicago-area Emmy Awards in the category of Spot News.

“In 1999, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists honored him with reporter of the year,” the biography said. “In addition, he garnered three Peter Lisagor Awards from the Headline Club of Chicago, winning for his coverage of the Peru drug wars and the death of Mayor Harold Washington, and was named Best Reporter of 1989.”

He was a named a 2019 honoree by National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Hall of Fame.

Avila was most recently a senior investigative reporter at KGTV, the ABC affiliate in San Diego, where he continued “covering a wide range of stories with depth and fairness,” Karamehmedovic said.

Even after his health challenges began, Avila “continued to contribute to journalism through opinion writing and local reporting, sharing his experience and deep curiosity to tell the stories that mattered most to his community and viewers,” the email said.

“We send our heartfelt condolences to his family, including his three children, Jamie, Jenny, and Evan, and we thank him for his many contributions and unwavering commitment to seeking out the truth,” Karamehmedovic said.

Attorneys for Comey, James press judge to toss cases over Trump-installed prosecutor

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James have asked a judge to throw out their criminal indictments on the basis that the Trump-installed prosecutor who charged them was appointed unlawfully.

At a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie pressed Justice Department lawyers on the government’s conduct in bringing indictments against Comey and James, which were brought just weeks apart at the direct urging of President Donald Trump after he removed a previous appointee overseeing the powerful U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia and replaced him with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide and former insurance lawyer with no prior prosecutorial experience.

Lawyers for Comey, who has pleaded not guilty to allegedly making false statements to Congress, and James, who has pleaded not guilty to mortgage fraud-related charges, argued that the cases against them are “fatally flawed” because Halligan’s appointment violates the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.

Judge Currie said she would plan to rule before Thanksgiving.

The legal challenge comes on the heels of other successful efforts to disqualify prosecutors that the Trump administration had attempted to install in at least three other U.S. attorneys offices in Los Angeles, Nevada and New Jersey beyond the 120-day limit set by federal law.

Judge Currie, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton from South Carolina, was appointed last month to oversee the challenge to Halligan’s appointment.

In legal briefs, attorneys for both Comey and James pointed to the unusual series of developments leading up to Halligan’s eventual appointment to lead the office after the ouster of Erik Siebert, who judges in the Eastern District of Virginia had unanimously voted to lead the office on an interim basis after his 120-day appointment by Attorney General Pam Bondi had expired.

Siebert, as ABC News previously reported, had resisted bringing the cases against both Comey and James after career prosecutors in the office determined evidence against them would likely fail to convince a jury of their guilt.

But just four days after Halligan was installed to lead the office, according to sources, she dismissed recommendations of prosecutors and personally presented the charges against Comey before a grand jury, which voted to indict him on two of three counts sought by Halligan. Just two weeks later, Halligan again personally appeared before a grand jury to seek James’ indictment.

“The President and Attorney General appointed the President’s personal lawyer as interim U.S. Attorney in violation of a clear statutory command so that the interim U.S. Attorney could indict an outspoken critic of the President just days before the relevant statute of limitations was set to expire,” Comey’s attorneys said in a filing last month.

The Justice Department has argued that the legal challenge to Halligan’s appointment is based on a misreading of statutes that govern presidential appointments and have accused Comey and James of seeking to exploit a “paperwork error” related to the law cited by Bondi when she initially appointed Halligan to lead the office.

In a legal brief earlier this month, prosecutors revealed that over a month after Halligan was appointed to lead the office, Bondi signed an additional order that sought to retroactively appoint Halligan as a “Special Attorney” specifically authorized to seek the indictments of Comey and James.

“The Attorney General has ratified Ms. Halligan’s appointment as Special Attorney with the authority to conduct criminal litigation in this district,” prosecutors said. “Because Ms. Halligan now has the indisputable authority to proceed with this prosecution, prospective relief would be inappropriate.”

In a reply brief filed last week, Comey’s attorneys accused the government of seeking to “retroactively transform” Halligan into an “authorized government attorney” and said their efforts to bolster the validity of her appointment were “unpersuasive.”

Critics say the indictments are part of a campaign of retribution by Trump against his perceived political foes, but Vice President JD Vance has said any such prosecutions are “driven by law and not by politics.”

Both James and Comey have urged Judge Currie to dismiss their indictments with prejudice, which would restrict from the government from bringing charges against them again if Halligan’s appointment were to be invalidated.

Luigi Mangione takes aim at DA, NYPD over alleged comments made by his mom

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Accused killer Luigi Mangione is taking aim at the Manhattan district attorney and New York police chief of detectives over the way they characterized a statement purportedly made by Mangione’s mother that killing the United Healthcare CEO was something she could see her son doing.

Mangione is accused of gunning down CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel in December 2024. Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania after a five-day manhunt.

DA Alvin Bragg and Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny have referenced a tip the FBI received from a police sergeant in San Francisco, who had contacted the FBI after seeing a resemblance between the murder suspect and photos on Mangione’s social media.

During a December 2024 news conference, Kenny mentioned an alleged conversation between San Francisco police and Mangione’s mom.

“They had a conversation where she didn’t indicate that it was her son in the photograph, but she said it might be something that she could see him doing,” Kenny told reporters.

In a new court filing, Mangione’s defense attorneys said prosecutors turned over no evidence to substantiate the purported remark.

“To date, there has been no documentation provided in discovery that confirms the Chief of Detectives’ statement as to Mrs. Mangione’s alleged statement,” defense attorney Karen Agnifilo wrote. “If it is true that Mrs. Mangione never made this statement, then it is shocking and unconscionable that the District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD have never corrected this highly prejudicial false statement.”

If Mangione’s mother did, in fact, tell San Francisco police that shooting Thompson “might be something she could see him doing,” Agnifilo said the district attorney’s office should provide proof.

The defense asked the judge to declare the district attorney’s certification that it complied with discovery obligations insufficient. Prosecutors are expected to respond in a future court filing.

Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges, is set to return to court next month.

Missing West Virginia coal miner found dead after nearly week trapped underground: Governor

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NICHOLAS COUNTY, W. Va.) — A missing miner trapped in a flooded West Virginia coal mine for nearly a week has been found dead, according to West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey.

“At approximately 6:00 a.m. this morning, water levels inside the Rolling Thunder Mine in Nicholas County had receded sufficiently for rescue crews to safely enter. The team began their search, examining every section as they advanced underground. At 7:37 a.m., one two-man team located the body of the missing miner, foreman Steve Lipscomb,” Morrisey said in a statement posted on X.

Alpha Metallurgical Resources, the company that owns the mine where Lipscomb was trapped, also confirmed Lipscomb’s death in a statement obtained by ABC News.

“During routine operations, a crew in the underground mine encountered a sudden and substantial inflow of water. Tragically, Steven Lipscomb, 42, of Elkview, W. Va., was unable to reach safety. He was last seen attempting to ensure his crew made it out safely,” the statement reads.

“Our hearts are broken,” Andy Eidson, the CEO of Alpha Metallurgical Resources, said in the statement. “Steve joined our company in 2006 and was a dedicated employee, respected leader and friend to many. His actions to ensure the safety of his crew members were heroic. On behalf of the entire organization, we extend our prayers and deepest sympathies to his wife, two children and all who knew and cared for him.”

Rescuers had been searching for Lipscomb, whose name was not immediately released, since Saturday, when he became trapped in the flooded mine. Crews pumped 6,000 gallons of water per minute from the mine, Morrisey said earlier this week.

“The big strategic goal right now is to drain as much of the water as possible, so that can give the mine rescue individuals the opportunity to go in and further their search,” Gov. Morrisey said at a Wednesday press conference, adding that it was being drained at a rate of approximately one inch of water per hour. “Separately there’s an effort to open up a hole to be able to do the drill to ultimately have a capsule that goes down.”

Morrisey said on Monday that dive teams were working to find pockets of air where the miner might be located while the mine was being drained.

“This has been an around-the-clock response since Saturday, and we’re going to continue to do everything imaginable to help,” said Morrisey. “We’re going to continue to push, because we want to make sure that we give the miner every opportunity to live.”

Lipscomb’s death at Rolling Thunder Mine is the second mining fatality in West Virginia this month, following the death of another miner at a different mine last Thursday, according to Morrisey.

“Our coal miners are among the hardest-working and most courageous people in our state. They represent the strength, humility, and resolve that define West Virginia. We owe these men and women an enduring debt of gratitude for the sacrifices they make every day to power our communities and our nation,” Morrisey posted on Facebook earlier this month.

Some food banks see up to 1,800% surge in demand since SNAP benefits were halted

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Food banks and pantries have been experiencing historic demand since SNAP benefits halted on Nov. 1 for many Americans due to the federal government shutdown.

That halt affected nearly 42 million Americans, many of whom are older or low-income, and use benefits to help pay for groceries and other essentials.

President Donald Trump late Wednesday night signed a funding bill to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier said that full SNAP benefits will be paid out once the shutdown was resolved.

However, food assistance workers said the restoration of food assistance can’t come soon enough as they struggle to fill in the gap left behind by SNAP.

Cyndi Kirkhart, executive director at Facing Hunger Food Bank, said she’s been working at the food bank for 11 years and has never seen the surge in people she is seeing now, and that it is higher than what she saw during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facing Hunger Food Bank — which serves 17 counties in West Virginia, Ohio and eastern Kentucky — said some locations in the southern part of West Virginia have seen a 1,800% increase in the number of families visiting.

“Typically, we do mobile pantry distribution, which are cars [lining] up [and] we load their car up with food,” she told ABC News. “At the most, we’ll see 250 families. The past week, solidly, we have seen 900 families at each distribution, at each site.”

Kirkhart said their mobile pantries have seen such demand that instead of sending large box trucks to load up supplies at the food bank, she has had to send tractor-trailers. She added that she only has two tractor-trailers, which puts a lot of pressure on drivers to load up and visit multiple distribution sites.

Kirkhart said her organization encourages individuals to go to the food pantries for food rather than the bank, but they will still serve people who visit the bank.

“We’ll still have maybe, over the course of a month, 50 people that will show up directly at the food bank for an emergency food box,” she said. “And these past two weeks at least, we have had 60 a day. … It’s non-stop.”

In Washington state, food banks are also seeing an exponential increase in visitors. Jordan Beaudry, development and communications manager at North Help Line — which provides emergency services including food aid — said there has been a surge at the two food banks the organization serves that has been years in the making.

Starting in 2022, “we saw our numbers practically double overnight, and it’s just been a steady increase since then,” he told ABC News. “We’re serving twice as many folks as we did three years ago, and that is sort of setting the stage going into this latest round of SNAP cuts and the government shutdown. … We’ve seen just a massive increase in the amount of folks accessing services, particularly since the pause on SNAP benefits.”

The most recent demand began in October, when it was first announced that SNAP benefits may be halted in November, Beaudry said.

From July through September, the banks saw an average of 1,086 visitors per week for the first two weeks of the month, according to data provided by Beaudry. In October, the average for the first two weeks was 1,136 per week. Last week, the banks saw 1,329 visits.

At one of the food banks, Beaudry said the last Thursday in October was the highest number of people the organization has ever seen on a Thursday, with about a 14% increase in households visiting to receive food.

Similarly, Kristen Wild, president and CEO of hunger relief organization Operation Food Search, which serves 25 counties in Missouri and Illinois, said the pantries, shelters and community sites where the organization’s supplies are distributed are seeing increases in people visiting between 30% and 50%.

She described a distribution event last week during which Operation Food Search had prepared 700 meals to issue starting at 10 a.m. CT. An hour before the event, the line of cars was 500 long and more than 200 families had to be turned away.

“We’ve had agencies report to us that they have had to shut down earlier than their typical operating hours because they have run out of food,” she told ABC News. “We’re seeing agencies are being approached by people looking for food who’ve never needed to use a pantry in the past because the SNAP benefits were sufficient enough for them to get the food resources that they needed.”

The organization also runs a metro market program, which is like a mobile grocery store, that has seen a surge in customers.

The program charges for food at or below cost but has recently started issuing $15 vouchers to customers due to the increase in demand, Wild said. Workers have also had to replenish shelves multiple times throughout a two-hour metro market stop due to the increase in traffic.

Wild added that 90% of food assistance comes from federal programs like SNAP and about 10% comes from food banks and food pantries. The halt in SNAP benefits has forced food banks to go into “overdrive” to make up as much of the gap as possible.

“We’ve had terrific community support, both in terms of more food donations, more financial donations, so we can purchase more food, but we can’t make up for the full SNAP gap,” she said.

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