ABC 11 by Sean Coffey

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Wednesday marks three weeks since the start of the federal shutdown with no end currently in sight.

House lawmakers remain out of session this week, while Senators failed for the 11th time on Monday to reach a deal on a short-term spending bill. Now, there's a new concern about the impact the shutdown could have on SNAP benefits and food insecurity.

Congresswoman Deborah Ross visited the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle headquarters on Wednesday afternoon in Raleigh to address concerns about how the shutdown could impact food banks. Ross said funding could start to disappear as soon as November, while demand continues to rise.

"We know with the shutdown, it's inevitable -- it will increase," said Elizabeth Rodgers with Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.

For organizations like theirs, the government shutdown -- now entering week four -- has worsened an already-delicate situation.

"We're seeing an increase in need, we're seeing -- while there are food drives, we're actually seeing less being donated because people don't have the supplemental income to buy that extra box of macaroni when they're at the grocery store," said Kimberly Burrows, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle's Chief Development Officer.

Rodgers and Burrows were joined by Ross at that Wednesday event, where the Congresswoman blamed the One Big Beautiful Bill and Republican congressional leadership for failing to negotiate an end to the shutdown.

"The shutdown has to end and we need to start putting federal money back into these federal programs," Ross said. "But the shutdown has just exacerbated what has already been a dismantling of basic services for our people."

It's a shutdown that North Carolinians may need to get used to. North Carolina State political science professor Steven Greene said he expects Democrats and Republicans to continue digging their heels in as both sides telegraph to their bases that they're winning in the standoff.

"As long as both sides feel like they have the upper hand, it's hard to imagine a solution in the near future," Greene said.

From possible TSA headaches to the impact on furloughed employees to a strain on local food banks, those are impacts that are bound to get worse as the shutdown nears record length.

"It's maybe fine for a few weeks, but at some point there's going to be some real pain and a lot of places," Greene said. "But you kind of have to wonder if we're just going to need some more pain before something is worked out."

https://abc11.com/post/north-carolina-leaders-food-bank-officials-warn-impacts-government-shutdown-drags/18057414/