The Trump administration has ordered states to “undo” Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments.
“States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” a Saturday memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.
The department also said in the memo that “failure to comply” could “result in USDA taking various actions, including cancellation of the Federal share of State administrative costs.”
An order forcing the Trump administration to pay full SNAP benefits for November by Friday was temporarily stopped by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Jackson’s ruling did not decide on the underlying legal merits of the case, but it provided a temporary reprieve to the Trump administration.
The chaos surrounding SNAP comes amid the ongoing government shutdown, which has dragged on for more than a month.
SNAP receives funding from the federal government, while states carry out the administrative task of handing out payments to qualifying residents. An average of 41.7 million Americans last year received SNAP benefits.
States have braced for the SNAP halt, looking toward their own emergency funds and directing people toward food banks, while some have said benefits would not be accessible starting this month.
Last Tuesday, President Trump indicated he would be holding back SNAP benefits until “Radical Left Democrats open up government.”
“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!” the president said on Truth Social.
On Sunday, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) predicted that the ongoing government shutdown will end by Thanksgiving.
“It absolutely needs to — and needs to be open today, if we can get it open. So we put out a proposal literally 14 times to say, ‘Let’s open it today, let’s keep negotiating,’” Lankford said.
The Hill has reached out to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of Agriculture for comment.
The White House directed The Hill to the OMB.
