Did Trump administration use $750M in tariff revenue to keep WIC running?

Claim:

As of early November 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration had used $750 million in tariff revenue to fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

Rating:

During the federal government shutdown in early November 2025, social media users claimed U.S. President Donald Trump used $750 million in tariff revenue to keep the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children running.

Congress failed to allocate full-year funding for multiple federal programs, including the program — known as WIC — as lawmakers remained deadlocked over reopening the government. Posts citing a Politico report claimed $450 million of the tariff funds were deployed on Oct. 31, following an earlier transfer in October — with a total of $750 million in tariff revenue used to sustain WIC.

The posts prompted multiple Snopes readers to email us and search our website to confirm whether the Trump administration really used $750 million in tariff revenue to keep WIC afloat.

The claim was true. Here’s a breakdown:

USDA confirms transfers from tariff fund

The claims stemmed from a Politico report published on Nov. 3, which said the Trump administration had “quietly readied $450 million” for WIC from a fund of unused tariff revenue on Oct. 31 — its second use of the so-called “Section 32 fund” after a $300 million transfer earlier in the month. 

Government records available through the OpenOMB database documented both transfers to WIC. Although the records did not specify the source of the funding, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture confirmed to Snopes via email that the entire $750 million came from tariff revenue  — specifically, Section 32 funds, as Politico reported.

Two nonprofit organizations also independently confirmed the transfers. 

On Nov. 3, the National WIC Association said it had “learned that $450 million in additional federal Section 32 funding” had been allocated to WIC. The White House Office of Management and Budget initiated the transfer of these funds and state agencies could expect to receive them within the next two days, according to the nonprofit.

A spokesperson for the Food Research & Action Center also told Snopes via email that the Trump administration moved $450 million in Section 32 funds to support WIC on Oct. 31. This marked the second time these funds were used to maintain WIC benefits after a $300 million allocation earlier in the month, the FRAC spokesperson said. 

What is Section 32?

Section 32, established under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935, permanently appropriates 30% of customs receipts on all imports from the previous calendar year, according to a Congressional Research Service overview.

That means a portion of the money that the U.S. government collects from tariffs on imported goods is set aside in a special USDA account. Today, much of that funding is used to support child nutrition programs, such as school breakfast and lunch, according to the CRS.

WIC funding is ‘temporary fix’

The National WIC Association called the additional funding a “critical step” to maintain services but noted it was “only a temporary fix” without full-year appropriations.

Georgia Machell, president and CEO of the nonprofit group, said the funding could cover roughly three weeks of operations, though states could exhaust the funds more quickly if demand spikes amid disruptions to other forms of federal assistance like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

No tariff money for SNAP

The USDA confirmed it would not use Section 32 funds for SNAP benefits during the 2025 government shutdown, according to a court filing dated Nov. 3.

In the court filing, Patrick A. Penn, deputy under secretary of Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services with the USDA, explained that the funds must remain available to sustain child nutrition programs rather than SNAP. He wrote:

Ultimately, USDA has determined that Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funds must remain available to protect full operation of Child Nutrition Programs throughout the fiscal year, instead of being used for SNAP benefits. Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funds are not a contingency fund for SNAP. Using billions of dollars from Child Nutrition for SNAP would leave an unprecedented gap in Child Nutrition funding that Congress has never had to fill with annual appropriations, and USDA cannot predict what Congress will do under these circumstances.

Penn highlighted a key distinction between transfers to WIC vs. those to SNAP: the amounts involved. He said that there are “sufficient funds in the Child Nutrition Programs to support WIC,” but the same cannot be said for SNAP, which would require at least $4 billion.

Instead, the Trump administration is tapping into roughly $5 billion in separate contingency funds to provide partial SNAP benefits in November, according to the court filing. However, the timing of those payments remained uncertain at the time of publication.