Trump admin directs states to undo full food assistance benefits for November

The US Agriculture Department has directed states to "immediately" reverse any steps taken to issue full food assistance benefits for November, saying such payments were "unauthorised."

In a memorandum updating guidance on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit issuance, Deputy Under Secretary Patrick A. Penn told states they must undo full benefit payments and instead continue processing partial issuances.

"States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025," Penn wrote in the memo.

The directive comes after the Supreme Court granted the agency an administrative stay on orders from a Rhode Island federal court, which ordered full benefit issuance.

Penn warned that noncompliance "may result in USDA taking various actions, including cancellation of the Federal share of State administrative costs and holding States liable for any overissuances."

The memo specifies that states must continue to process and load partial issuances and not transmit full benefit files to processors.

Partial SNAP benefits

The memo came amid chaos and confusion that erupted during the ongoing – and longest – federal government shutdown in US history, when Trump threatened to withhold SNAP benefits, saying that the government's $5 billion contingency fund cannot be used during the government closure.

The Trump administration then agreed to pay partial SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, until the shutdown ended, but said that those payments could take weeks to be delivered.

The government said it would use $4.65 billion in contingency funds to cover about 65 percent of eligible households' benefits, but declined to use additional funding set aside for child nutrition programmes.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers issued a quick response to the administration's demand.

"No," Evers' statement said. " Pursuant to and consistent with an active court order, Wisconsin legally loaded benefits to cards, ensuring nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites, including nearly 270,000 kids, had access to basic food and groceries."

"After we did so, the Trump Administration assured Wisconsin and other states that they were actively working to implement full SNAP benefits for November and would 'complete the processes necessary to make funds available.' They have failed to do so to date," the statement added.

Evers added that Wisconsin continues to fight in court the Trump administration's efforts to yank away food assistance from the state's families, including kids and seniors.