White House says it will use tariff revenue to fund federal food aid for mothers and young children

By Tami Luhby, Samantha Waldenberg, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration said Tuesday it will use tariff funds to keep afloat a federal food assistance program for nearly 7 million pregnant women, new moms and young children during the government shutdown.

The program, known as WIC, was expected to run out of money soon because Congress has yet to approve a federal spending package for fiscal year 2026, which started on October 1. The National WIC Association has predicted that the program’s funding would last only a week or two into the shutdown.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the tariff idea in a post on X.

“The Democrats are so cruel in their continual votes to shut down the government that they forced the WIC program for the most vulnerable women and children to run out this week,” she wrote. “Thankfully, President Trump and the White House have identified a creative solution to transfer resources from Section 232 tariff revenue to this critical program.”

The tariff money goes into a general fund managed by the Treasury Department. But the fund and all the tariff revenue flowing into it is essentially frozen until a bill is passed to fund the government. Congress and Trump could get around that by passing a measure designating the tariff revenue for a specific use.

While the National WIC Association said it welcomes any effort to keep the program operational during the shutdown, it said critical details remain unknown.

“Families need long-term stability, not short-term uncertainty,” Georgia Machell, the association’s CEO, said in a statement Tuesday. “We still don’t know how much funding this measure provides, how quickly states will receive it, or how long it will sustain operations.”

At least one budget expert questioned the legality of the Trump administration directing tariff funds to WIC. Lawmakers have not appropriated federal funds to be spent on the program, just as they haven’t for the rest of the discretionary federal budget, Chris Towner, policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told CNN.

“The problem isn’t that they don’t have the money — it’s that Congress hasn’t told them they can spend it,” he said.

Asked about the administration’s authority, a White House spokesperson directed CNN to Leavitt’s post on X.

Bipartisan support

WIC, which has long had bipartisan support, has emerged as a talking point among Republicans on how the shutdown is hurting Americans.

House Speaker Mike Johnson previously called his Democratic colleagues “shameful” and blamed them for how the government shutdown has impacted WIC.

“What they’ve done by shutting the government down is they have stopped the WIC program,” Johnson said in an interview last week on Newsmax, also citing other programs affected by the impasse.

“All those programs are going to stop. They have stopped now because Chuck Schumer decided to play politics for selfish reasons,” he said, referring to the Senate minority leader. “It’s really shameful.”

Axios first reported the White House effort.

Since the start of Donald Trump’s second term, the president has been adding and increasing tariffs on a wide swath of products and countries, which he argues will spur more manufacturing in the US and bolster national security. Tariff collections have totaled $190 billion so far this year.

Section 232 tariffs are imposed on national security grounds. Trump has already levied such tariffs on aluminum, steel and cars, for example.

Funding lapse

The US Department of Agriculture told state agencies last week that due to the lapse in government funding, they will not receive their quarterly allocation of fiscal year 2026 money for WIC, formally known as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.

However, the department said it intends to allocate up to $150 million in contingency funds to state WIC agencies suffering from shortfalls. Also, states can use rebates from infant formula manufacturers, as well as their own funds, according to the USDA guidance obtained by CNN.

WIC helps enrollees purchase infant formula, baby food, cheese, yogurt, bread, peanut butter, fruits, vegetables and other staples, and it provides breastfeeding and nutrition support.

Participation has increased in recent years as federal and state policymakers made it easier to enroll and recertify, improved the shopping experience, and enhanced the benefits. Also, rising inflation, particularly for food, in recent years has squeezed the budgets of many Americans, especially low-income families.

More federal support needed

Even after the shutdown ends, advocates are concerned about WIC having sufficient funding for the coming fiscal year. Unlike food stamps, federal support for WIC is capped — though Congress has always allocated enough money to provide for all participants.

The program received $7.6 billion in funding for fiscal year 2025, which ended September 30. The pending full-year spending bill in the House would keep funding flat and reduce WIC’s fruit and vegetable benefit, while the version approved by the Senate would provide $8.2 billion for this fiscal year.

Advocates stress more money is needed this fiscal year to ensure no one is turned away and benefits don’t get cut. Enrollment stood at just under 6.9 million people in May, the most recent month available, up nearly 126,000 from a year earlier and nearly 193,000 from two years ago.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald contributed to this report.

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