Washington — Recipients of federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will receive a higher portion of their monthly payments for November than initially expected, an official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said late Wednesday.
Patrick Penn, who oversees food and nutrition services at the USDA, including SNAP, said in a court declaration that maximum allotments for food-stamp beneficiaries will be reduced by 35% for this month, instead of halved.
As a result, eligible Americans will receive up to 65% of their benefits, more than the initial 50% that states had been directed to implement earlier this week.
The Justice Department said in a separate filing that the USDA "realized this error" after conducting further calculations. The department had notified states on Tuesday of the benefits reduction for November but then provided new guidance and information required for states to calculate the food benefits available for each eligible household, government lawyers said.
The Trump administration warned states late last month that food-stamp payments would not go out for November because of the ongoing government shutdown. But after a group of municipalities and nonprofit organizations sued, a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the USDA to tap into a contingency fund to cover the lapse in benefits.
The Justice Department told the court Monday that the Trump administration would "fulfill its obligation to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds," and provided states with the information needed to calculate adjusted monthly benefits Tuesday.
In an earlier declaration, Penn said roughly $4.6 billion of reserve money would be used to cover "50% of eligible households' current allotments." He said the USDA "intends to deplete SNAP contingency funds completely and provide reduced SNAP benefits for November 2025."
The government shutdown entered its 37th day Thursday and is now the longest lapse in federal funding in U.S. history.
