Overview
- States are implementing new SNAP rules that expand work requirements to able‑bodied adults up to age 65 and limit caregiver exemptions to parents of children under 14.
- Longstanding exemptions for people experiencing homelessness, veterans and former foster youth are removed, and state waivers are largely limited to counties with unemployment above 10% with special provisions for Alaska and Hawaii.
- The law narrows immigrant eligibility, leaving refugees, asylees and recent lawful permanent residents ineligible while groups such as long‑term green‑card holders, certain Cuban and Haitian nationals, and COFA migrants remain eligible.
- The Congressional Budget Office projects an average monthly caseload reduction of about 2.4 million over the next decade, and CBPP estimates roughly 4 million people could see benefits reduced or eliminated.
- November benefits were restored after the shutdown; USDA has floated a possible mass reapplication without issuing detailed guidance, and the three‑month limit for noncompliance is set to start in December.