The Trump administration announced Monday that it will distribute only half of the usual food stamp benefits for November during the ongoing government shutdown, using money from the program’s contingency reserve. However, recipients are unlikely to receive those funds immediately.
According to a sworn declaration submitted in federal court by a U.S. Department of Agriculture official, about $4.65 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s contingency fund will “be obligated to cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments” for November. The remaining $600 million in the reserve will go toward state administrative costs and nutrition programs in Puerto Rico and American Samoa.
The move follows a ruling from a federal judge in Rhode Island last week, directing the USDA to either provide full SNAP benefits for November or to issue partial payments if the agency chose to rely solely on the contingency fund.
In court filings on Monday, the administration wrote that it opted not to pull an additional $4 billion from other accounts that would have enabled full benefit payments for the month.
Nearly 42 million people in the United States rely on SNAP assistance, with households receiving an average of just over $350 per month, based on the latest USDA figures from May.