The United States Department of Agriculture announced that it will proceed with distributing partial Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments for the month of November, moving forward despite President Donald Trump’s explicit threat to suspend those benefits entirely. SNAP, also known as the nation’s primary food assistance initiative, serves as an essential lifeline by providing monthly aid that helps approximately 42 million Americans with low income afford groceries and meet their nutritional needs. This program plays a crucial role in reducing food insecurity across the country, ensuring that struggling families, single adults, and seniors can maintain access to basic dietary necessities even during political or fiscal disruptions.
In a detailed court filing submitted on Wednesday in the state of Rhode Island, the USDA informed the court that it had complied with a prior judicial mandate issued on October 31. That order required the department to release funds from its contingency reserves to sustain SNAP operations during the ongoing federal funding lapse. The filing stated that, in accordance with the court’s directive, the department had taken all procedural and legal measures necessary to disburse those emergency funds, thereby enabling continued food assistance for millions of recipients who depend on timely benefit distributions to purchase groceries each month.
The USDA emphasized that the contingency fund, which historically serves as a financial safeguard, had never before been activated to cover SNAP benefits during a lapse in appropriations resulting from Congressional disagreements over government spending bills. In the past, these reserves were exclusively employed during natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, or other national emergencies to provide immediate relief to affected communities. Thus, the department’s decision to repurpose this fund to mitigate the effects of a potential interruption in federal nutrition support represents a significant and unprecedented administrative step. The agency explained that it had implemented the necessary financial adjustments to allocate the limited resources available for the continuation of benefits in November, marking the first instance in which these reserves have been used under such circumstances.
However, USDA officials made clear that the total amount of money drawn from the contingency fund was insufficient to provide the full monthly SNAP allotment. Because of this shortfall, the department informed individual state agencies—who are responsible for administering SNAP benefits locally—that only half of the standard payment amounts would be issued for November. This decision means that millions of recipients will experience a temporary reduction in assistance, though administrative continuity has at least ensured that some level of support continues despite the funding conflict. To facilitate this partial distribution, the USDA issued formal guidance to state agencies on Tuesday, outlining specific procedures for calculating reduced payments and ensuring that beneficiaries are properly informed of the change. For example, a single-person household residing in any of the 48 contiguous states or in the District of Columbia will now receive a maximum November benefit of $149, reflecting the halved amount from the normal monthly allocation.
Within the same Rhode Island court filing, the USDA revealed that it had explored, but ultimately rejected, the option of redirecting billions of dollars from the Child Nutrition Programs—which fund critical school meal initiatives—to temporarily bolster the SNAP budget. The department argued that doing so would have created severe financial gaps in school meal programs and other related provisions, resulting in a significant funding shortfall that could not easily be remedied through future congressional appropriations. Such a diversion, the agency stated, would have jeopardized meals for schoolchildren nationwide, leading to an outcome they deemed unacceptable even amidst broader fiscal challenges.
This legal development followed a post made by President Trump on his Truth Social platform earlier in the week. In that post, the president reiterated his intention to halt the disbursement of SNAP benefits until Congress, particularly the Democratic leadership, approved new government funding measures to reopen the federal government. He claimed that SNAP expenditures had grown extensively during President Joe Biden’s administration—asserting, in emphatic terms, that the program had expanded “by billions and billions of dollars” and suggesting that benefits had been distributed without adequate safeguards to ensure that only genuinely needy individuals received them. Trump’s message concluded with an assertion that no payments would be released until, in his view, the “Radical Left Democrats” agreed to end the shutdown.
Meanwhile, federal judges in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts issued rulings last week compelling the Trump administration to maintain funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program throughout the government shutdown. Their orders underscored the judiciary’s recognition of the program’s essential role in public welfare and its importance in preventing widespread hardship among the nation’s most economically vulnerable citizens. By requiring the USDA to release available contingency resources, the courts sought to protect millions of individuals and families from abrupt disruptions to their sole means of nutritional support during a politically induced budget impasse.
As of the latest reports, representatives of the USDA and the White House have not provided formal comments in response to Business Insider’s requests submitted outside of standard working hours. Observers note that the agency’s actions, while constrained by financial limits, underscore a broader institutional commitment to maintaining stability in food assistance programs even amidst extraordinary political uncertainty.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/usda-snap-benefits-food-stamps-president-trump-threat-government-shutdown-2025-11
