Trump administration redirects tariff funds to support vital assistance program

In the United States, the federal government shut down on October 1, 2025, due to Congress's inability to agree on a budget. As a consequence, several federal programs that rely on government funding, particularly the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), faced severe financial constraints. The WIC program, which assists nearly seven million low-income women, infants, and children, was rapidly running out of funds and was projected to shut down completely within weeks if new funding was not secured. Concerned about the implications of this shutdown on vulnerable populations, White House officials, including Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, began proposing the use of tariff revenue to sustain the WIC program until a new budget could be enacted. Leavitt blamed Democrats for the situation, asserting that their actions had forced the program to the brink of collapse. The Trump administration considered directing tariff funds from the federal government's general fund to support the WIC program. However, it remains unclear how this would be implemented or if it would successfully restore WIC services amidst the ongoing shutdown. The legislative deadlock included a Senate competing measure supported by Democrats that would fund the government until October 31 while proposing significant expenditure on health care programs, including Medicaid, which opponents argue would provide benefits to groups not eligible for the subsidies. The situation remained tense as the shutdown stretched on, impacting various government operations and services across the country, and the future of the federal budget remained uncertain.