2:48The U.S. Capitol on the second day of a federal government closure in Washington, D.C., October 2, 2025.Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Sarah Manasrah has been a recipient of assistance from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — widely known as WIC — since her initial child was born six years prior.
The 37-year-old parent residing with her spouse and two daughters, aged 6 and 3, in Brooklyn, New York, expressed to ABC News during a Wednesday interview that she was unaware that the federal government cessation could potentially influence WIC benefits — which supplements wholesome sustenance for underprivileged families — for her and her offspring.
"They don’t prioritize families. They profess to in order to advance their political aims," Manasrah commented concerning Republican and Democratic members of Congress, who couldn’t achieve a consensus to finance the government, essentially ceasing its operations on Wednesday.
Sarah Manasrah pictured alongside one of her two kids in an unarchived photograph.Courtesy of Sarah Manasrah
Manasrah stated that she leverages WIC perks to secure approximately $27 for new fruits and veggies, as well as stipends for certain amounts of specified nutritious edibles such as eggs, whole-wheat bread, milk and infant formula at no cost via a government-furnished payment card that recharges every month.
The mother of two also availed herself of WIC’s breastfeeding assistance program through a fellow advocate who aided her with her firstborn.
How will the closure affect WIC?
Specialists confided to ABC News that they remained uncertain of the precise influences a cessation will exert on WIC beneficiaries, given that individual states must each determine whether they can supplement the funds, and the figures may fluctuate contingent on the state.
Ali Hard, the director of public policy for the National WIC Association, revealed to ABC News on Tuesday that WIC recipients might begin witnessing their benefits impacted after the initial or subsequent week of the closure.
She disclosed that WIC possesses $150 million in backup funding in the instance of a closure and $135 million in recurring baby formula refund checks that would assist the program in functioning properly for roughly a week or two.
Thereafter, both incoming and existing WIC beneficiaries will commence perceiving their benefits impacted, notably those residing in locales devoid of state finances to supplement the deficit of federal resources, Hard conveyed.
"The timing of this closure at the dawn of the new fiscal year places WIC at the peril of promptly exhausting funds," Hard’s group articulated in a declaration issued on Tuesday. "This lapse unnecessarily imperils the well-being and nourishment of millions of expectant women, recent mothers, infants, and young children who lean on WIC. … Each day of inaction draws us nearer to a predicament. A failure to swiftly reopen the government could culminate in State WIC directors being thrust into the dreadful situation of attempting to oversee their programs with insufficient resources."
With the federal government suspended, some states will be compelled to delve into their own reserves to defray WIC benefits.
Democratic Reps. Bobby Scott and Suzanne Bonamici dispatched a letter on Wednesday to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, whose department supervises the WIC program, urging the secretary to delineate a strategy on how the department intends to replenish state finances utilized to supplement WIC benefits subsequent to the closure’s conclusion.
"The WIC program functions as a crucial support for families; the program’s caseload augmented by 5 percent in Fiscal Year 2023 from 6.4 million participants to 6.7 million, emphasizing the imperative to entirely finance the program annually without delay or uncertainty," the representatives posited in their correspondence.
In 2013, amidst a 16-day government shutdown, "states depended on their common funds to sustain WIC services and were then reimbursed with federal finances upon the shutdown’s cessation; however, there exists ambiguity regarding whether the federal government would undertake the same course of action this instance," the letter conveyed.
A spokesperson with the USDA transmitted to ABC News a dispatch from the department, which was dated Oct, 1, 2025, and directed to directors of the Supplemental Nutrition Division across all regions, stating that state agencies could secure funding from refunds, state-appropriated or general finances, and contingency funds. Nevertheless, they were prohibited from employing any supplementary FY 2025 finances for FY 2026 expenditures, as per the correspondence.
"Nutrition initiatives will function depending on State preference and the span of a shutdown," the USDA spokesperson expressed in an announcement to ABC News Wednesday. "If Democrats fail to finance the government, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) will exhaust funding, and States will be compelled to make a determination."
A view of the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 29, 2025 in Washington.Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
A representative from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget also attributed the culpability to Democrats.
"By provoking a government cessation, Democrats are dismissing WIC beneficiaries," an OMB representative asserted in a declaration. "The program will run out of money in October, and women and children could no longer obtain benefits. The White House and Republicans in the House-passed CR incorporated $600 million, ensuring no benefit curtailment–clearly Democrats are agreeable with women and children forfeiting WIC benefits."
Democrats have placed the fault on Republicans for the cessation, citing what they characterize as a disinclination to negotiate concerning health care stipulations.
A view of the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 29, 2025 in Washington.Nathan Howard/Reuters
President Donald Trump’s leadership has undertaken notable endeavors to advocate for families and reiterated that an increased number of infants require birth in the United States.
According to the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again Report, WIC furnishes primarily nutritious edibles for expectant and nursing mothers, women who recently delivered, and infants and children up to 5 years of age. WIC grants nourishment education and assistance to roughly 6.7 million women and children countrywide, as per the MAHA Report.
"WIC boasts an established history of ameliorating children’s well-being," according to the MAHA Report. "Research has demonstrated that recipients encounter enhanced pregnancy results, favorable birth weights, elevated immunization frequencies, upgraded dietary worth, and cognitive advancements. … One study indicated the 2009 WIC food package modification may have contributed to reversing escalating childhood obesity statistics."
Manasrah, the Brooklyn mother of two, functions as a doula, lending aid to pregnant women preceding childbirth and furnishing them with postpartum assistance. She is also employed by the non-profit Bridge Project, which dispenses funds and backing to low-income mothers during pregnancy, birth, and the earliest phases of their infants’ existence.
She conveys that a significant segment of the women she collaborates with secure WIC benefits.
"The majority of families I am familiar with depend on WIC for their formula, if they are employing formula, and that is precisely preserving infants’ lives," Manasrah affirmed. "Thus, it is not an overstatement to express that WIC represents a lifesaving initiative for families."
ABC News’ Eric Strauss, Katherine Faulders, Michelle Stoddart, Arthur Jones and Hannah Demissie played a part in this story.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
