Overview
- On Monday, Justice Department filings told a federal judge the administration would deplete SNAP’s contingency fund to cover roughly half of November benefits and supply states the data to begin payments.
- Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Tuesday that guidance went to states, cautioning the recalculations are cumbersome and could delay disbursements by weeks or longer.
- President Trump then posted that benefits will be paid only when Democrats vote to reopen the government, contradicting the prior court filings and leaving states seeking clarity.
- U.S. District Judge John McConnell previously ordered the government to keep SNAP funded, and a new hearing this week will consider motions to compel full payments rather than partial ones.
- Several states, including Maryland, Louisiana, New Mexico, Vermont, Rhode Island, Virginia, Delaware and Hawaii, moved to provide limited stopgap aid as food banks report rising demand.