Overview
- Court filings say the USDA will exhaust $4.65 billion from SNAP’s contingency reserve, covering roughly 50% of typical November payments for about 40–42 million people.
- The administration told a Rhode Island federal court it will not appeal orders from judges in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and will not draw on other federal sources or reimburse states.
- Benefits will not be issued immediately as states recalculate reduced amounts and load EBT cards, a process USDA and state officials say could take days to weeks or longer.
- Food banks report increased demand and some states have deployed limited stopgaps, while retailers that rely on SNAP spending brace for reduced sales.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said funding flows could restart as soon as Wednesday, contingent on required administrative steps.