Montgomery County leaders are bracing for the fallout from the government shutdown and months of massive federal layoffs. They say they can bolster some of the nonprofits trying to fill residents’ burgeoning needs, but warn that they won’t be able to plug all the holes punched into the local economy.

“This is very much an all-hands-on-deck sort of battlefield triage,” Earl Stoddard, the county’s assistant chief administrative officer, told the County Council Tuesday.

Rafael Murphy, director of the county’s Office of Grants Management, told the council that there’s no imminent, serious threat to the grants the county gives to local nonprofits, since those are not funded by federal programs.

But he predicts a “severe” impact on local nonprofits and community organizations that partner with the county and rely heavily on federal grants that are being eliminated.

That means competition for county grants is likely to skyrocket.

Stoddard said this means that the executive branch may ask the council to approve funding — beyond what’s in the current budget — to help nonprofits assist county residents hurt by the federal cuts.

That help, he acknowledged, won’t be enough.

“There are certainly going to be areas that we are not as a local government going to just be able to paper over,” Stoddard said.

County Council President Kate Stewart said the council will need to set priorities.

“We are going to do all we can to continue to support our community,” she said. “But we do know it is going to be tough for us and nearly impossible for us to completely backfill the federal support that we’re now getting.”

Food pantries

Heather Bruskin, director of the county’s Office of Food Systems Resilience, gives grants to local food banks and other nonprofits. She said she can already see the demand for groceries rising.

“This is the first week that our furloughed workers will either see missed paychecks or reduced paychecks,” Bruskin said, and their misfortunes will ripple across the local economy.

“That will significantly impact those in the hospitality industries and service industries, folks that are relying on tips and their hourly wages to feed their families,” she said.

According to Bruskin, 35% of county residents live below the “self-sufficiency” line, meaning their income is low enough that they struggle to pay for basic expenses. But within that group, about 10% live below the threshold to qualify for federal and state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Some residents who make too much money to qualify for SNAP benefits still do not have enough income to meet some of their basic needs.

Those residents often rely on local food banks and other programs — the same nonprofits that are facing increased pressure as more families face federal job losses. If the federal government cuts SNAP, as many states predict, more people could be competing for private resources to feed their families.

Murphy said that in the face of these troubles he has reminded his staff that the county government does not always have to comply immediately with executive orders, because many of them are being challenged.

“How much of that is actually going to hold up in court?” Murphy asked.

Correction: A photo credit in this story has been updated to correct the date.