In the midst of a tense government shutdown, the Trump White House has rolled out an emergency lifeline to safeguard one of the nation’s most vital support systems for low-income families.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Tuesday that President Trump has authorized the use of Section 232 tariff revenue to fund the WIC program — a move aimed at ensuring that millions of mothers and children do not go hungry while Congress remains gridlocked.
WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, provides essential support to roughly six million low-income recipients across the country. Services include vouchers for healthy food, nutritional education, and breastfeeding support — lifelines for many families, especially during economic uncertainty. Without intervention, WIC was expected to run out of money within weeks, putting countless families at risk.
Now, thanks to an executive directive from the president and a creative workaround from the Office of Management and Budget, that worst-case scenario appears to have been averted — at least for the time being.
Leavitt didn’t mince words when addressing the issue, accusing Democrats of having “cruelly voted to shut down the government” and saying their political brinkmanship put vulnerable women and children in the crosshairs. “The Trump White House will not allow impoverished mothers and their babies to go hungry because of the Democrats’ political games,” she said in a statement, echoing growing frustration from Americans watching yet another budget standoff unfold in Washington.
The Democrats are so cruel in their continual votes to shut down the government that they forced the WIC program for the most vulnerable women and children to run out this week.
Thankfully, President Trump and the White House have identified a creative solution to transfer… https://t.co/tj9Xt7f4yQ
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) October 7, 2025
While exact figures haven’t been disclosed, the White House says the infusion of tariff revenue will fund the WIC program “for the foreseeable future.” It’s a temporary solution — and it’s not yet clear how long the tariff funds will last — but it buys crucial time for ongoing negotiations in Congress.
To be clear, this isn’t a sleight of hand or a reallocation of existing social spending. It’s an example of the White House using non-traditional revenue streams — in this case, funds collected through Section 232 tariffs, originally imposed for national security reasons — to plug holes left by congressional inaction. It’s not the first time tariff revenue has been used creatively, but it may be one of the most high-impact deployments to date.
Predictably, critics will say this is a band-aid, not a solution. And they’re not wrong. The only long-term fix is a functioning Congress capable of passing funding bills. But in the meantime, while political parties trade blame and posture for the cameras, this move demonstrates a commitment from the Trump administration to act, not just argue.
