The Trump administration on Saturday, Nov. 8, directed states to reverse any steps taken to issue full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November, following a U.S. Supreme Court administrative stay that paused a lower-court order requiring full payments.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture told states in a Saturday memorandum that any full SNAP payment files transmitted for November were “unauthorized” and must be unwound. The memo instructed agencies to notify their Food and Nutrition Service regional offices of corrective actions and warned that noncompliance could jeopardize federal administrative funding or leave states liable for overpayments, according to the department’s guidance.
USDA also reiterated that, unless directed otherwise, states should continue issuing partial benefits that reflect a 35% reduction from the maximum allotments, consistent with guidance circulated earlier in the week. The agency’s updated memo was issued after the Supreme Court granted the administration an administrative stay on Friday, Nov. 7, temporarily halting a Rhode Island district court order that required full November SNAP benefits. The stay remains in effect until the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules on the administration’s broader request for relief, according to court filings and reporting by outlets including CBS News and the Washington Post.
SNAP, the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, serves about 42 million people. Funding for regular benefits lapsed on Nov. 1 amid the federal shutdown — the first such lapse in the program’s six-decade history — prompting emergency litigation in multiple courts. In recent days, the administration said it would use roughly $4.6–$4.7 billion from SNAP’s contingency reserve to fund partial November payments, while declining to tap other pots of money; Reuters and the Associated Press have reported that figure and context. Politico has reported that states were initially told to target roughly 65% of normal maximum benefits, which aligns with USDA’s stated 35% reduction from the maximum.
Several states began moving to issue full benefits after the district court ruling, including Massachusetts and New Jersey, before the Supreme Court’s administrative stay. USDA’s Saturday memo now directs those states to reverse such actions, Reuters reported.
The directive comes as the shutdown reached its 40th day on Sunday, Nov. 9, with the Senate meeting over the weekend but showing limited progress toward a deal. The impasse has centered in part on Democratic efforts to extend Affordable Care Act premium subsidies, a point of contention highlighted in coverage by the Associated Press and Reuters.
The administration had previously argued it lacked legal authority to use certain reserve funds to cover regular SNAP benefits during the lapse — a position challenged by anti-hunger advocates and policy experts — before agreeing under court orders to deploy contingency reserves for partial payments. Full benefits would resume once Congress enacts funding to reopen the government.
