Overview
- Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson granted an administrative stay Friday that pauses lower-court orders for full November SNAP payments while the First Circuit considers the appeal.
- The USDA memo instructs states to load roughly 65% of normal benefits and warns of penalties for noncompliance, including canceling the federal share of administrative costs and liability for overissuances.
- Several states, including Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, had begun issuing full benefits under a district court order, but some officials such as Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers say they will not claw back funds.
- USDA filings note the agency’s contingency reserve is about $5 billion versus the $8–9 billion typically needed for a month, fueling a dispute over whether other USDA accounts like Section 32 can legally be tapped.
- The funding squeeze has left about 42 million SNAP recipients facing reduced or delayed aid, straining food banks and creating operational confusion for state agencies and EBT processors.