Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald told the council that the federal government shutdown and concurrent federal policy changes could have significant fiscal and operational consequences for Richmond.

"What we have seen so far is that there is more than 1,000,000,000 in impact to the city. So about $1,100,000,000 in federally supported programs are at risk if these reimbursement delays continue of our total $3,000,000,000 budget," Donald said. He told members that about 130 programs rely on federal funding in some form and that the city has prepared a public "shutdown report" summarizing projected impacts.

Donald highlighted two program areas with immediate risk: housing-related federal programs administered by HUD (CDBG, HOME, HOPWA and ESG) and SNAP. He said HUD-funded programs "touch 33 agencies and 10 employees" and that HOPWA supports roughly 102 households; if reimbursements stopped, those households could face housing disruptions.

On SNAP, Donald said more than 22,000 Richmond households — roughly 38,000 residents, nearly 20 percent of the population — receive benefits. He noted that the federal government announced it will pay 50% of November SNAP benefits and that the Commonwealth of Virginia launched the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance Program (VENA), which provides weekly payments (about 25% of a participant's prior monthly benefit) beginning Nov. 3 for participants approved prior to Oct. 29.

Shonda Giles, director of social services, told council that Medicaid is required to be federally funded during a shutdown and that she did not anticipate immediate changes for Medicaid recipients; she cautioned, however, that prolonged shutdowns can create uncertainty. "Right now, I guess, the good news is Medicaid is required to be federally funded through a shutdown, so I don't anticipate any changes for recipients right now of Medicaid," she said.

Donald outlined mitigation steps: activating bridge funding where available, deferring discretionary purchases, pausing some hiring, prioritizing critical DSS and HCD services, expanding food-distribution partnerships with Feed More and regional partners, and ramping up targeted communications (postcards, texts, couponing with food distributions and possibly temporary call-center expansions). He urged council members and residents to support volunteer and donation efforts while the city pursues state and federal remedies.

Council members questioned how the city will reach vulnerable recipients, expand capacity for nonprofit partners facing funding cuts, and whether short-term housing protections (for example moratoria or other local actions) are feasible. Donald said staff are exploring temporary, city-level measures to provide relief and will report back later in the week.