The Trump administration told a federal judge it will use contingency funds to provide partial Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits this month, according to NBC News. The move follows a court order requiring the Department of Agriculture to restore funding amid the ongoing government shutdown, which has left millions without food aid.
Court filings show the administration will allocate all $4.65 billion in contingency funds to cover roughly half of November’s benefits for eligible households. Officials said they need at least $4 billion more in additional federal funds to make full payments. Agriculture Under Secretary Patrick Penn said the administration rejected using Section 32 Child Nutrition funds, arguing that doing so would jeopardize other programs that feed children nationwide.
The filing acknowledged that using contingency reserves will leave nothing for new applicants, disaster relief, or emergencies if SNAP funding stops completely. Advocacy group Democracy Forward, representing the plaintiffs, said it is weighing new legal action to compel full payments. “It shouldn’t take a court order to force our President to provide essential nutrition,” said CEO Skye Perryman.
More than 40 million Americans rely on SNAP to buy food. Food banks across the country have seen surging demand as families struggle through the shutdown, which is days away from becoming the longest in U.S. history. Federal judges in Rhode Island and Massachusetts both ruled that halting benefits likely violates federal law and ordered the administration to resume payments immediately.
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