The Trump administration informed a federal judge in Rhode Island on Monday that it plans to utilize billions from contingency funds to distribute half of the usual amount of SNAP benefits in November, given the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program offers food stamps to approximately 42 million low-income individuals across the United States.
court document, the administration told Judge Jack McConnell that it had chosen not to accept his recommendation to issue complete November payments for SNAP benefits by drawing at least $4 billion from the Child Nutrition Program and other unidentified funds.
Rather, the administration will allocate all of the remaining $4.65 billion from a contingency fund for SNAP set aside by Congress for “November benefits that will be obligated to cover 50% of eligible households’ existing amounts.”
In a ruling on Friday, McConnell stated that the administration was not permitted to stop disbursing SNAP benefits. Prior to his ruling, the administration had rejected the idea of utilizing the contingency funds due to the shutdown, which commenced on Oct. 1.
Previous administrations, including President Donald Trump’s first term, have relied on contingency funds to maintain SNAP benefits during government shutdowns.
It remains uncertain when individual states will start dispensing the benefits. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned on Sunday that the benefits could potentially start by Wednesday.
In its submission on Monday, the administration stated that the U.S. Department of Agriculture “will fulfill its duty to expend the complete amount of SNAP contingency funds today by producing the table necessary for States to determine the benefits available for each eligible household in that State.”
The USDA granted permission for the states to commence distributing the benefits once the table is released.
Democracy Forward, the advocacy group whose attorneys represented plaintiffs in the lawsuit that resulted in McConnell’s order, criticized the administration for failing to make full SNAP benefits payments by Monday.
“We are evaluating the administration’s submission to the court and considering all legal avenues to ensure payment of full funds,” stated Democracy Forward CEO Skye Perryman.
“It shouldn’t require a court’s directive to compel our President to deliver vital nutrition that Congress has clearly mandated needs to be provided,” Perryman added.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey remarked in a statement, “The Trump Administration just confirmed what we have always known – this funding has been available all along, and the President could have used it to stop American families from experiencing hunger.”
“We seek clarity on how much and when those benefits will become accessible. However, the President should not stop at that,” Healey said. President Trump ought to commit to fully funding SNAP benefits and making these complete benefits available without delay.”
In a written directive issued on Saturday, McConnell presented the USDA with two alternatives.
The first option involved making the complete payment of SNAP benefits for November by the day’s end on Monday employing Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funding and other unspecified resources.
The alternative option was to “provide a partial payment of the full amount from the contingency fund and … promptly address the administrative and clerical challenges specified in its documents, but in no case should the partial payments be executed later than Wednesday.”
Patrick Penn, the USDA’s deputy undersecretary overseeing Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, acknowledged in a separate court filing on Monday that the department had contemplated utilizing funds from the Child Nutrition Program.
However, the department concluded that these funds “must be preserved to ensure the full functioning of Child Nutrition Programs throughout the fiscal year, rather than being diverted to SNAP benefits,” Penn asserted.
“Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funds do not constitute a contingency fund for SNAP,” Penn asserted. “Drawing billions from Child Nutrition for SNAP would create an extraordinary gap in Child Nutrition funding that Congress has never addressed with annual appropriations, and the USDA cannot predict Congress’s actions under these circumstances.”
The Nutrition Program encompasses school lunch and summer food service initiatives for children, he emphasized.
