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The Trump administration announced on Monday that it will provide partial funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, following two federal court rulings that ordered the government to keep the food aid program operational during the shutdown.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture had planned to halt SNAP payments beginning Nov. 1, saying it no longer had the funds to continue the program while the government remained closed. SNAP serves roughly one in eight Americans and costs about $8 billion per month.
It remains unclear how much assistance households will receive for November or when funds will appear on the electronic benefit cards used to purchase groceries. Distributing benefits requires action by both state and federal agencies, and the process can take up to two weeks in some states. The average monthly benefit is about $190 per person.
The USDA said in October that November benefits would not be issued due to the shutdown, prompting states, food banks, and the nearly 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP to prepare for possible disruptions. Many states increased support for food banks or made plans to use state dollars to reload benefit cards temporarily.
The uncertainty triggered a series of lawsuits. On Friday, federal judges in Rhode Island and Massachusetts ruled that the government must use a $5 billion contingency fund to cover at least part of November’s SNAP payments. The rulings gave the administration until Monday to choose whether to fully fund the program, which would require using additional federal dollars, or issue reduced benefits.
President Donald Trump wrote on social media Friday that he does “NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT.” He said he instructed government lawyers to prepare to distribute benefits “as soon as possible.”
Delays are still expected in November, as most recipients typically receive their benefits early in the month.
Democratic attorneys general or governors from 25 states and the District of Columbia challenged the plan to pause SNAP, arguing the administration is legally required to keep the program running. Cities and nonprofit groups have also filed suit.