The ongoing surge in demand at Pennsylvania food banks on Thursday — including one where Gov. Josh Shapiro condemned the federal government’s role in the surge — was described as “unprecedented” and “quadruple the normal” and “at all-time highs.”

Food banks in Allegheny County, Westmoreland County and elsewhere are being swamped by a double whammy of demand that is rooted in partisan political conflict in Washington but which has drawn attention in Harrisburg. A stoppage in funding of federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits has forced many SNAP beneficiaries to search for food, while the federal government shutdown has put some unpaid federal employees in the same situation.

“Cold-hearted” is how Mr. Shapiro, a Democrat, on Thursday described the Republican administrat

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