The partial government shutdown entered its third week Saturday without an end in sight; if the government is not reopened by February, millions of Americans who utilize food stamps could have their assistance disrupted.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nation's food stamp program. It receives funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is one of the agencies unfunded during the partial government shutdown.

Although SNAP is automatically renewed, it has not been allocated funding from Congress beyond January. Congress has appropriated $3 billion in emergency funds for SNAP distribution, but that would not cover all of February's obligations.

$4.7 billion in SNAP benefits were disbursed throughout every state last September, the most recent month of data available. If the shutdown continues through March, there will be no remaining funding for SNAP, endangering food security for millions of Americans.

According to the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 42 million Americans received SNAP benefits in 2017. More than 68 percent of participants were in families with children, and more than 44 percent were in working families.

Child Nutrition Programs, including School Lunch, School Breakfast, Child and Adult Care Feeding, Summer Food Service and Special Milk will continue operations through February, according to the USDA.

Staffing for Food and Nutrition Services, which oversees the Child Nutrition Programs, SNAP, and WIC, has been cut by 95 percent since the shutdown began.