(The Center Square) – The federal government has reopened, meaning SNAP beneficiaries in Arizona and elsewhere will receive full assistance.
It also means thousands of Arizonans who work for federal agencies will be paid.
Approximately 34,00 Arizonans were involved in federal civilian employment in 2024, the most recent year available on Congress.gov. Meanwhile, nearly one million Arizonans relied on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, in 2024. There were concerns SNAP recipients would go hungry amid the shutdown.
“On November 12, 2025, funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also referred to as Nutrition Assistance (NA), was made available through September 30, 2026,” Brent Bezio, public relations chief for the Arizona Department of Economic Security, told The Center Square in an email. “The Department of Economic Security (DES) is taking immediate action to issue any outstanding benefits and resume normal SNAP benefit operations.”
Meanwhile, finger pointing continues among lawmakers.
U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Arizona, called the 43-day shutdown “completely unnecessary.” Ciscomani added that it was “disappointing to see so many Democrats, especially Arizonans, voting to remain shut down.”
Democrats wanted Republicans to agree to more spending for areas such as health care, but Republicans argued their liberal colleagues were more interested in helping illegal immigrants.
U.S. Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Arizona, said “we cannot forget what the Democrats have done” and how the American people suffered from the shutdown.
“The damage done by the Democrats’ selfish political stunt is still unknown,” Hamadeh told The Center Square in an email. “What we do know is that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the shutdown caused up to $14 billion in permanent economic losses.”
According to Hamadeh, “the only explanation for this destructive action by the Democrats is that they hate President Trump and are afraid of their radical base.”
The shutdown even has state legislators talking. Like Ciscomani and Hamadeh, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said the shutdown should never have happened. Petersen put some of the blame on U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, both D-Arizona.
“Kelly and Gallego chose to play political games with people’s lives in an effort to cater to the radical left that is increasingly taking over their party,” Petersen told The Center Square in an exclusive interview by email. “I’m grateful President Trump and his administration stepped up with steady leadership, listened to Arizona’s priorities, and worked toward a responsible reopening.”
“In the end, Democrats gained nothing from the stunt they pulled, and the American people were the ones who paid the price,” said Petersen.
The Center Square asked the offices of Kelly and Gallego Thursday for comment but did not receive a response.
Neither Kelly nor Gallego was part of the eight Senate Democratic Caucus members who joined Republicans to vote for the government to reopen. As of the writing of this article, there was no press release or statement on their websites or X accounts. The only Democratic senators from the Southwest who voted to reopen the government were U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, both of Nevada, as previously reported by The Center Square.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’s office did not respond to a comment request, although Hobbs, a Democrat, spoke up for SNAP beneficiaries during the shutdown.
