The Trump administration said Nov. 3 it will partially fund food stamp benefits this month after two federal judges last week ordered the government to release emergency funds for the program amid the ongoing government shutdown.
The move comes as the shutdown hit its 34th day, leaving about 42 million Americans without their usual Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits starting Nov. 1, Axios reported.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it will use its $4.65 billion in SNAP contingency funds — about half of the $9.2 billion Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said SNAP would cost in November — to provide roughly half of each household’s current allotment.
In a court filing, the government said the USDA is “complying with the Court’s order and will fulfill its obligation to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds today,” adding that the agency is “generating the table required for States to calculate the benefits available for each eligible household.”
USDA officials said the plan will leave no funds for new SNAP applicants who applied in November. The administration also declined to draw from other accounts — including one that holds tariff revenue designated for child nutrition programs — to cover the amount needed for full benefits.
“Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funds are not a contingency fund for SNAP,” USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Food and Nutrition Services Patrick Penn wrote in the filing. “Using billions of dollars from Child Nutrition for SNAP would leave an unprecedented gap in Child Nutrition funding that Congress has never had to fill with annual appropriations, and USDA cannot predict what Congress will do under these circumstances.”
On Oct. 31, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell of Rhode Island ordered the USDA to use its “congressionally approved contingency funds” to keep SNAP running during the shutdown, Reuters reported. The following day, McConnell gave the administration until Nov. 3 to issue full payments or until Nov. 5 to make partial payments.
In a separate case the same day, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston similarly ruled that the government must use the emergency fund to issue “at least reduced SNAP benefits for November.” Talwain’s order came from a lawsuit filed by 25 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia.
Trump addressed the issue directly on Truth Social that day, writing: “I do NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT. Therefore, I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.”
Reuters reported that SNAP benefits are reserved for Americans earning less than 130% of the federal poverty line — about $1,632 per month for a single-person household or $2,215 for a two-person household in most areas.
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