Overview
- USDA says SNAP benefits will not be issued on November 1 unless the shutdown ends or a court intervenes, reversing an earlier contingency plan.
- Twenty-five states and Washington, D.C., asked a Massachusetts federal court to compel use of roughly $5–6 billion in contingency funds and other balances to continue payments.
- Judge Indira Talwani suggested she may require emergency funds or partial benefits, indicated any order would likely be nationwide, and said a decision was imminent.
- The administration contends contingency reserves are not legally available under the Anti-Deficiency Act and has warned states that front costs will not be reimbursed.
- States are mounting stopgaps such as New York’s $30 million in food aid, California’s $80 million for food banks, and Nevada’s plan with National Guard support, as 41 million recipients face disruption that advocacy groups say would especially impact about 10 million Latinos.