Trump administration orders states to stop issuing full SNAP benefits, ‘undo’ benefits sent for November

The Trump administration issued a memo telling states to “immediately undo” any action taken to fully fund November food-aid benefits, adding further uncertainty around the program that provides support to 42 million low-income Americans.

Amid the ongoing government shutdown, the US Agriculture Department issued the directive in a Saturday memo and said that states that didn’t “comply” could face financial penalties.

In the Saturday directive, obtained by CNN, the USDA told states to instead proceed with issuing partial benefits — which will provide 65% of the maximum allotments for November — as ordered by the same lower court judge earlier in the week. (Many recipients will receive less than 65% of their usual assistance because of the way food stamp benefits are calculated.)

The memo comes after the Trump administration asked an appeals court to pause a judge’s order requiring the US to fully fund November’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, by Friday.

US District Judge John McConnell ordered the administration to use alternative reserve funds to send states the $8.5 billion to $9 billion needed this month.

The US Supreme Court temporarily paused the judge’s order in order to allow an appeals court to further review it, allowing the Trump administration to withhold $4 billion in food aid for now.

The Trump administration is challenging the decision in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals and argued in its Friday filing that there are only enough funds to pay for partial SNAP benefits for this month.

The administration had previously committed to covering 65% of benefits for November after losing an earlier round in court. They warned the process would likely take weeks or even months.

Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement that she believed the Trump administration was “demanding that food assistance be taken away from the households that have already received it.”

“They would rather go door to door, taking away people’s food, than do the right thing and fully fund SNAP for November so that struggling veterans, seniors, and children can keep food on the table,” she said.