Government shutdown could impact WIC food benefits, Charlotte-area counties say
The ongoing federal government shutdown could jeopardize food assistance for some North Carolina women and children, two Charlotte-area counties say.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services notified counties the U.S. Department of Agriculture told states “no quarterly funding allocations for fiscal year 2026 will be issued” for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children “because of the ongoing federal government shutdown,” the Iredell County Health Department said in a Thursday news release.
The program, better known as WIC, provides access to healthy foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding education and referrals for other services to low-income pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, as well as infants and children up to age 5.
“Based on current resources and USDA guidelines, the North Carolina WIC program has enough funding to continue operations, including food benefits, for approximately two weeks,” Iredell County’s statement said.
Mecklenburg County Public Health also “received official communication from DHHS that the NC WIC program has funding to maintain WIC operations, including food benefits, for two weeks,” spokesman Myles Bell told The Charlotte Observer Friday.
Iredell County’s statement said “WIC food benefits and services remain active for at least two weeks” but cautioned “future funding is uncertain.” The USDA, according to the county, “has indicated it may release limited emergency funds, but North Carolina is not guaranteed to receive them.”
“Our priority is ensuring that Iredell County families continue to have access to food and support through WIC during this period of uncertainty,” Iredell County Health Director Brady Freeman said. “We are committed to keeping participants informed and supported while the federal government works to resolve the shutdown.”
The federal government officially shut down overnight Tuesday after Congress failed to pass a funding bill.
Multiple Trump administration officials said WIC would shut down under a government shutdown, The News & Observer reported previously.
“If they shut the government down, not only are troops unpaid, federal workers and all the services that everyone relies on, but the WIC program, the nutrition program — Women, Infant and Children — they will not get that program,” U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters while leaving the White House Monday. “It will not be funded.”
NCDHHS estimated in 2024, more than 230,000 North Carolinians used the WIC program annually.
