Overview
- U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. directed the administration to deliver full November SNAP funding by Friday, rebuking delays and citing presidential statements that threatened to withhold payments.
- The USDA told courts it would provide up to 65% of typical benefits—revised from 50% after a calculation error—but now faces a court mandate to restore full payments.
- Roughly $4.6 billion in contingency funds will be tapped, yet the program typically costs more than $8 billion per month, highlighting a funding gap that courts say cannot justify partial payments.
- States warn that antiquated systems and complex recalculations could delay distributions for days or weeks, with Pennsylvania estimating about 10,000 staff hours for required system changes.
- Analysts cautioned the partial formula could have left some larger households with no payment, and food banks and cities are deploying emergency aid that cannot replace nationwide SNAP benefits for about 42 million people.