The United States Department of Agriculture has directed states to stop the various steps taken to ensure residents still receive full food aid benefits.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (SNAP) have been halted since the first of the month, for the first time in history, after the USDA claimed that “bottom line, the well has run dry”.
In the days following the confirmation that SNAP would not be issued at all for November, several states have launched efforts to make up the loss for their residents, either funding the aid on a state level or by bolstering food banks to allow additional support.
The day before, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration was allowed to continue withholding US$4 billion, which had been ordered by a federal judge to be used in funding SNAP fully.
Late last week, Rhode Island's Judge John McConnell ordered the administration to use contingency funds to reinstate the program, in full, which the USDA said it would comply with, but to expect heavy delays.
However, the Supreme Court order allows those funds to remain withheld, despite more than 42 million Americans being dependent on SNAP.
Following this ruling, the Department issued guidance over the weekend to several states that they must now wind back any efforts taken to issue full food aid benefits to low-income Americans or risk penalties.
"States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025," the memo said.
“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 for any overissuances that result from the noncompliance.”
This comes amongst the longest shutdown of the federal government in U.S. history, which has reached the 40-day mark.
