PredictFolio Team
The Trump administration has directed U.S. states to scale back food assistance payments to low-income families, arguing that full benefit disbursements are “unauthorized.”
In a memo released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), states were instructed to distribute only 65% of the usual benefits. The order follows a Supreme Court ruling permitting the administration to withhold a portion of SNAP funding until further legal proceedings take place.
The decision affects more than 42 million Americans who depend on the program, many of whom began receiving partial benefits this month as the government shutdown continues.
Some states had defied earlier federal guidance after a lower court required the administration to continue full funding. However, the new USDA directive explicitly tells state governments to halt full payments for November 2025 and to reclaim any excess amounts already distributed.
“States must immediately reverse any actions taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” the memo said. Officials warned that states failing to comply risk losing federal administrative funding and could be held “liable for any overpayments.”
The USDA’s latest communication appears to contradict a separate message sent a day earlier, in which the agency said it was seeking ways to restore full benefits using emergency funds to comply with the lower court’s order. That directive was later paused by the Supreme Court, temporarily siding with the Trump administration.
Several states, including New York, Massachusetts, California, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, had already begun issuing full benefits before the reversal.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that his answer to the USDA’s request to take back the funds was simply “no.”
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey also pushed back, saying in a statement that “if President Trump wants to punish states for trying to keep Americans fed, we’ll see him in court.” She added that the funds had already been distributed late last week based on the USDA’s earlier instructions.
This latest confrontation marks an escalation in the standoff over SNAP funding as the record-breaking government shutdown continues. The USDA had initially warned that benefits would be suspended in November due to lapsed appropriations.
On Friday night, the Supreme Court issued an emergency ruling allowing the administration to temporarily withhold $4 billion in program funding while it appeals the lower court’s decision.
SNAP, commonly known as food stamps, supports roughly one in eight Americans and costs nearly $9 billion per month. On average, a family of four receives about $715 monthly, equivalent to just under $6 per person per day.
