"In guidance issued late Saturday, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said, "states must not transmit full benefit issuance" for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and must instead process reduced payments from contingency funds. If full benefits had already been loaded onto the assistance cards, the USDA deemed this "unauthorized" and ordered states to "immediately undo any steps taken," warning of penalties like loss of federal administrative funding or liability for overpayments."
"This new guidance reverses a USDA memo issued Friday that indicated full funding to comply with a Rhode Island federal judge's order. However, that order was paused Friday night by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. The pause blocks a lower court ruling requiring the administration to shift around $4 billion (3.46 billion) from child nutrition programs to cover the gap in SNAP funding, pending appeals."
"Some states had already issued full benefits and are refusing to claw them back, vowing court action if penalized. In one court filing, over 20 states warned that a failure to reimburse full SNAP payments risk "catastrophic operational disruptions." Around 42 million low-income Americans, mostly families with children, seniors and disabled people, rely on SNAP, federally funded but state-administered. The dispute arose from the ongoing 40-day federal government shutdown, the longest in United States history, leaving SNAP without new funding after conti"
USDA directed states to stop issuing full November SNAP benefits and to distribute approximately 65% of benefit value using contingency funds, ordering reversal of any full issuances and warning of penalties including loss of federal administrative funding or liability for overpayments. The guidance reversed an earlier USDA memo issued to comply with a Rhode Island judge's order, which was paused by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Some states that already issued full benefits refuse to reclaim them and threaten legal action. Around 42 million low-income Americans rely on SNAP, and the dispute stems from funding gaps caused by the prolonged federal government shutdown.
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