Since the coronavirus pandemic began this spring, Radha Muthiah has dramatically expanded the operations of the Capital Area Food Bank in response to the falling fortunes of many of the region’s residents.

Muthiah, the food bank’s CEO, hired 25 new workers and leased a space in Maryland to add to facilities in the District and Lorton, Virginia.  She also bought 500 truckloads of nonperishable foods like peanut butter and canned tuna. But when she heard the news on Tuesday that President Trump had pulled out of negotiations around another stimulus bill, Muthiah said she’d review those orders.

“If we’re not now going to have the federal stimulus for another month and maybe longer, we will have to… think about whether we need to purchase even more food than we have before,” Muthiah said.

In a series of tweets late Tuesday night, Trump first announced he would walk away from negotiations on additional federal relief, and later appeared to backtrack, demanding Congress approve piecemeal measures like another one-time stimulus check.

The whiplash underscored the challenging reality facing charities, businesses, leaders and residents in the D.C. region: In a stumbling pandemic economy, they cannot depend on more federal aid. The $1,200 stimulus checks people received in spring are long spent. Additional unemployment benefits of $600 a week ran out in July, and a federal program offering $300 a week has been patchy. Small businesses are no longer receiving federal loans to help them weather the storm.

All the while, costs continue to mount, enraging leaders in both parties — including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican.

“Washington’s failure to pass relief is already harming our nation’s health and economic recovery. The American people can’t afford to wait until after the election. There is no shortage of bipartisan and common-sense proposals. Put aside the politics and get this done,” he tweeted.

“We need leadership on the federal level to overcome the health and economic challenges before us,” said the office of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Last week, D.C. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey DeWitt projected a $221 million revenue loss for new fiscal year that just began, and said the damage this year would have been worse if not for federal money. Bowser’s office also noted that D.C. was stiffed in the CARES Act, receiving $500 million in direct federal aid when states each received $1.25 billion.

“Of course, D.C. is still dealing with being shortchanged $755 million in the CARES Act — something that Speaker Pelosi and the HEROES Act would have rectified,” said Bowser’s office, referring to the second stimulus package approved by Democrats in over the summer and again this month. “With federal stimulus, we could immediately deploy more resources to not only bolster our COVID-19 health and medical response, but also to help the individuals and industries hit hardest by the economic downturn.”

In Virginia, Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey, a Democrat, said that congressional inaction would have a significant impact. She said her county had received $41 million in federal CARES Act funding, which it put toward housing relief and other elements of the social safety net, and she estimated that funding would last only through the end of the year.

“If we’re not getting any federal funding … we’re going to have to start deciding where we’re going to cut back, and that means letting people go,” Garvey said. “And then you have more people who are unemployed. How are they going to pay their rent? How are they going to put food on the table? The whole thing is just a set of dominoes.”

Much the same goes for Alexandria, wrote spokesman Craig T. Fifer in an email.

“If the President is delaying consideration of the most recent House bill, that could result in a delay of $20 million to $30 million to the city. This would be crucial to helping fill a significant gap in our FY 2022 budget. Without know whether that money will be coming, we would have to plan for even deeper budget cuts than we are currently expecting,” he wrote.

The money crunch affects every layer of life in the region. Metro, for example, says that without federal help, it will have to continue to cut service across the region. The transit agency is proposing about 75% of pre-COVID service levels for the foreseeable future. The reduced service levels could also be paired with furloughs and layoffs for non-union staff to help meet a $250 million budget gap this fiscal year.

“We’re trying to balance this financial pressure,” General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said last month.

If Trump does not get a new stimulus package through Congress, he will be going against the advice of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who called for more aid Tuesday.

“The recovery will be stronger and move faster if monetary policy and fiscal policy continue to work side by side to provide support to the economy until it is clearly out of the woods,” Powell said.

Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Democrats, condemned the president’s non-action in a statement.

“The American public is telling us they need COVID relief now and we should wait until after the election to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. Instead, the President and Senate GOP are rushing their court nominee and ignoring Americans who are suffering in this health and economic crisis,” they wrote.

But others in the region cautioned against relying solely on federal funding.

“Federal help has been critical but it’s also been a piece of the bigger operation,” said Jack McDougle, president and CEO of the Greater Washington Board of Trade.

In particular, in D.C., he said, the government was also able to draw on its reserves to avoid some of the worst case scenarios. As evidence, McDougle pointed to an improving picture for unemployment. In August the District’s unemployment rate stood at 6.9%, better than a month before — but still double the rate a year prior.

Whatever stimulus plan is eventually passed, McDougle said the problems an infusion of federal funds would address won’t be going away anytime soon.

“It would be good to get it sooner rather than later,” he said, adding, “there’s still going to be a need for more stimulus next year.'”