California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday the deployment of the National Guard to distribute food assistance, following a surge in demand in recent days due to the ongoing financial stalemate in the United States, which is affecting the poorest families particularly hard.
With hundreds of thousands of federal employees across the country going unpaid due to the government shutdown, tensions have risen between the Republican majority, led by President Donald Trump, and their Democratic opponents. Both parties remain entrenched in their positions in Congress regarding the budget vote.
Governor Newsom stated, “Trump’s failure is not theoretical; it literally takes food from people’s mouths,” as he confirmed the National Guard’s deployment in the western state. He added that “millions of Americans rely on food assistance to feed their families.”
The assistance, particularly through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is expected to come to an end in the coming days for some of the nation’s poorest families if an agreement between the Republicans and Democrats to resolve the government shutdown is not reached.
The shutdown began on October 1 when both parties failed to agree on a temporary spending plan to maintain government funding. Since then, hundreds of thousands of civil servants have been forced into unpaid leave.
The National Guard, comprised of military reservists, typically responds during natural disasters but can also be deployed overseas. In recent months, Trump has provoked frustration among his opponents by sending the National Guard to Democratic-led cities, despite objections from local authorities, as seen in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.
In June, Trump dispatched thousands of National Guard personnel and Marines to Los Angeles to assist police with efforts to manage protests and unrest that arose in response to his anti-illegal immigration campaign.