The Trump administration has announced it will release $4.65 billion in emergency funds to partially cover food aid this month after a federal court ordered the Department of Agriculture to resume payments for the nation’s largest anti-hunger program during the government shutdown.
The move follows a ruling by U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell in Rhode Island, who directed the administration last week to find a way to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) operating despite a lapse in appropriations.
SNAP, which serves roughly 42 million Americans, ran out of money for the first time in its history over the weekend, leaving families and states scrambling to fill the gap.
According to a new legal filing, officials will use $4.65 billion from the USDA’s contingency fund to pay about half of November’s benefits for current SNAP participants.
The department said the action will not cover new applicants who applied after Nov. 1 and will not fully restore the $8 billion required to fund the entire monthly allotment.
“Section 32 Child Nutrition Program funds are not a contingency fund for SNAP,” said Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary for Food and Nutrition Services, in a court statement. “Using billions of dollars from Child Nutrition for SNAP would leave an unprecedented gap in Child Nutrition funding that Congress has never had to fill with annual appropriations, and USDA cannot predict what Congress will do under these circumstances.”
The administration rejected proposals to redirect money from other child nutrition programs — including unused tariff revenues earmarked for school meal services — saying those funds are not legally interchangeable.
As a result, some households may not receive benefits for weeks, and others could experience reductions in their usual allotments.
“For at least some states, USDA’s understanding is that the system changes states must implement to provide the reduced benefit amounts will take anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months,” Penn wrote.
The partial restoration comes after days of public outcry and images of long lines at food banks from New York to Georgia, as families sought emergency meals following the sudden halt in federal food aid. In the Bronx, volunteers reported hundreds of additional people arriving before dawn at the World of Life Christian Fellowship International food pantry, with many saying their electronic benefit cards had stopped working.
The White House has not commented directly on the court order, but administration officials previously argued that federal law did not permit them to distribute benefits without congressional appropriations. The government maintained that issuing partial benefits could risk “a collapse of the administrative system.”
The shutdown, now entering its fifth week, has left multiple agencies without spending authority and forced states to rely on reserves to maintain essential services.
USDA’s latest filing also confirmed that the agency last week transferred $450 million in Section 32 funds to sustain the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), which faced its own funding cliff on Nov. 1. Officials said the emergency infusion will temporarily keep that program running through mid-November.
While the partial SNAP payments are expected to ease immediate pressure on states, anti-hunger organizations warn the temporary fix will not prevent further hardship if the shutdown continues into December. Food banks from Alaska to Texas have reported surging demand since the cutoff.
“The pantry is no longer for the poor, for the elderly, for the needy,” said Rev. John Udo-Okon, who runs the Bronx food pantry. “The pantry now is for the whole community — everybody.”
Congressional leaders have yet to reach agreement on a broader spending bill to end the shutdown. Lawmakers from both parties have signaled support for ensuring full SNAP funding, but negotiations remain stalled over larger budget disputes between the White House and Senate Democrats.
Until a deal is reached, USDA says it has no authority to guarantee December benefits. States will continue to process existing accounts as funds become available, meaning millions of low-income households could face continued uncertainty heading into Thanksgiving.
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