The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would use revenue from tariffs to fund a popular social program for parents and children that is expected to run out of funds soon due to the current government shutdown.
The announcement raises a handful of questions, including how much of the program would be funded through tariffs, and whether the administration has the legal authority to follow through on its promise.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides parents with vouchers to buy essential items for their children, including baby formula, fruits, vegetables, and more. It also provides resources like breastfeeding counseling and referrals to other services.
However, due to the shutdown, the program, which serves around 7 million people, has only around $150 million left in contingency funding.
“We feel good about one to two weeks. After that, we are very worried,” said Ali Hard, policy director for the National WIC Association.
Some states have signaled they would foot the bill for WIC payments within their borders, hoping for reimbursements from the federal government later on. Those reimbursements, however, would not be guaranteed.
On the social media site X, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated that the White House would use funds derived from President Donald Trump’s controversial tariffs to supplement the funding losses that WIC is facing.
“The Trump White House will not allow impoverished mothers and their babies to go hungry because of the Democrats’ political games,” Leavitt wrote, blaming Democratic lawmakers for the shutdown, despite the administration and Republicans in Congress refusing to negotiate in good faith to end the funding crisis.
Notably, the Trump administration hasn’t always been as favorable to the WIC program as Leavitt insinuates. Indeed, in its proposed 2026 fiscal budget, the White House sought to axe fruit and vegetable vouchers included in the program.
At issue, too, is whether the administration has the legal authority to send tariff-derived funds to WIC at all. As outlined by the Constitution, Congress, not the president, is empowered to determine where taxes may go, with other branches of government forbidden from doing so.
Presidents are allowed to disburse some executive branch funds through the use of executive orders, but those, too, require some level of congressional authorization. The tariffs enacted by Trump — which are viewed by many economists to be a tax on consumers — have not explicitly been directed to help pay for WIC.
“Many Americans will likely learn of developments like these and see them as encouraging news. … There is, however, a broader constitutional issue,” MSNBC producer Steve Benen wrote in a blog post on Wednesday, recognizing that the promise Leavitt made on behalf of the White House may not be legal.
Benen added:
Am I saying that struggling WIC beneficiaries should simply go without? No. I’m saying that officials should follow the law and prevent an authoritarian president from treating Congress like a doormat (again) and moving around federal funds however he pleases.
Most Americans are upset with the way Trump has handled the shutdown, which is entering its second week. According to an Economist/YouGov poll published on Tuesday, only 33 percent approve of how Trump has navigated the shutdown so far, while 54 percent disapprove.
Rather than stick their heels in the ground and refuse to negotiate with Democrats, 63 percent of voters say lawmakers “should compromise to reach a budget agreement,” the survey found.
And as far as the “blame game” goes, only 30 percent of voters say Democrats are mostly to blame, with 41 percent saying the shutdown impasse is mostly Trump and Republicans’ fault. Twenty-three percent blame both sides equally.
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