States administering the federal food assistance program serving about 42 million Americans faced uncertainty Monday over whether they can — and should — provide full monthly benefits during an ongoing legal battle involving US government shutdown.
President Donald Trump's administration over the weekend demanded that states “cancel” all benefits that were paid out by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the one day between a federal judge ordering full funding and a Supreme Court judge. put a temporary pause according to this order.
A federal appeals court is now considering whether to suspend all benefits for a longer period. And Congress is considering funding SNAP as part of a proposal to end the government shutdown.
Some states are warning of “catastrophic disruptions” if the Trump administration doesn't compensate them for them. SNAP Benefits they have already allowed it. Meanwhile, other states are providing partial monthly SNAP benefits with federal money or using their own funds to download electronic benefit cards for SNAP recipients.
Trump Administration Initially Announced SNAP benefits will not be available in November due to the government shutdown. After some states and nonprofit groups sued, two judges ruled that the administration cannot completely ignore the November benefits.
The administration then said it would use the emergency reserve fund to provide 65% of the maximum monthly benefit. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell said that was not enough and ordered full financing to receive SNAP benefits by Friday.
Some states responded quickly by requiring their EBT providers to pay full monthly benefits to SNAP recipients. Millions of people in those states received funds to buy groceries before Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson put McConnell's order on hold Friday night pending further appeals court review.
Millions more people still have not received SNAP payments for November as their states awaited further guidance from the USDA, which administers the SNAP program.
The Trump administration argues that the court's order granting full benefits violates the Constitution because it infringes on the spending power of the legislative and executive branches of government.
The Trump administration said Sunday that states acted too quickly and erroneously provided full SNAP benefits following last week's decisions.
“States should immediately reverse any steps taken to provide full SNAP benefits in November 2025,” Patrick Penn, Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture, wrote to state SNAP directors. He warned that states could face fines if they fail to comply.
In Wisconsin, which was among the first to receive full benefit payments after McConnell's order, federal reimbursements were frozen. As a result, the state's SNAP account could be depleted as early as Monday, leaving no money left to reimburse stores that sell food to SNAP recipients, according to court documents filed by those who filed the lawsuit.
Some Democratic governors have vowed to defy any attempt by the federal government to return the money.
In Connecticut, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said that “those who have received their benefits should not have to worry about losing them.”
“No, Connecticut does not need to return SNAP benefits already paid to the 360,000 people who depend on them for food and who should never have been at the center of this political fight,” Lamont said. “We have their back.”
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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; John Hannah in Topeka, Kansas; and Nicholas Ricciardi in Denver contributed to this report.
