SNAP thrown into chaos after Trump admin tells states not to pay full benefits for November as shutdown drags on

WASHINGTON — SNAP benefits have been thrown into chaos for 42 million people after the Trump administration told states not to make full food stamp payments for November.Multiple states, including New York and Connecticut, began rolling out full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments — despite the Supreme Court on Friday pausing a previous order from the lower court the said full benefits should be paid for November.“To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized,” a Saturday memo from the Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, said.“States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” the memo went on.

“Failure to comply with this memorandum may result in USDA taking various actions, including cancellation of the Federal share of State administrative costs and holding States liable.”Only 65% of SNAP benefits will be funded for now, according to the Department of Agriculture memo, which was first reported by the New York Times.Funding for SNAP lapsed on Nov.1 due to the shutdown.

One in eight Americans receive SNAP benefits to help pay for food, and the average payment per household is $332 a month.The Trump administration has tapped into the $4.65 billion contingency fund for SNAP, which is usually reserved for disasters, to keep the program partially afloat.That’s not enough to pay for all recipients for all of November — the program costs $8.5 to $9 billion per month.

Last week, the Trump administration said it would not fill the gap in the funding from a different potential source — the Child Nutrition Program, due to uncertainty over whether Congress would replenish that money.“Child Nutrition Program funds are not a contingency fund for SNAP,” the administration stressed in court documents last week.“Using billions of dollars from Child Nutrition for SNAP would leave an unprecedented gap in Child Nutrition funding that...