California National Guard to support food banks due to expected food assistance delays

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday he will deploy National Guard troops to support food banks in November, a move that comes in light of anticipated delays to federal food assistance amid the government shutdown.

About 40 million low-income people across the U.S., including roughly 5.5 million in California, receive federal food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. But Newsom, a Democrat, warned families should expect an interruption to those benefits next month.

“This is serious, this is urgent – and requires immediate action,” he said.

That's a starkly different mission from President Donald Trump’s deployment of California National Guard troops to guard federal buildings and immigration agents in Southern California as part of his mass deportation agenda. He’s also deployed or tried to send guard troops to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Portland, Oregon.

Newsom, Trump’s longtime political rival, has fought the president’s deployment of troops to Democrat-run cities, saying last month that Trump can’t “trample a state’s power to protect its people.” A federal appeals court heard arguments Wednesday on Trump’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles. A lower court judge ruled that the federal government violated federal law.

Newsom said he's fast-tracking $80 million for food banks in nearly every county in the state.

The governor's office said he's building off of his efforts to combat food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Newsom ordered the National Guard and volunteers from a state-run program in 2020 to work with food banks across the state to identify needs. Troops helped pack and deliver 800 million meals to people, Newsom's office said. The governor will share additional details on the new effort as Nov. 1 approaches.

Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts law also set new rules for the federal program also known as SNAP, requiring more people to work to receive food assistance.

The California Immigrant Policy Center is concerned that Newsom’s plan could inadvertently have a chilling effect due to Trump’s National Guard deployments, said Josh Stehlik, the advocacy group's policy director. But Stehlik was pleased to see the governor say that guard would not be acting as law enforcement.

“It makes sense to mobilize the National Guard for the humanitarian purpose of delivering much needed and critical food assistance to people during an emergency that's been caused by the federal government shutdown,” Stehlik said.

Volunteers through a state-run program will also provide support to food banks.

“During this critical time as DC strips communities of vital resources, Californians are doing what we always do — which is step up for each other,” said Josh Fryday, director of the Governor's Office of Service and Community Engagement, which oversees the program.