The Agriculture Department says it will partially fund SNAP benefits for November using a contingency fund and won't supplement that money from other sources. 

In a status report filed in a federal lawsuit in Rhode Island, the government said it was "complying with the court’s order and will fulfill its obligation to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds today by generating the table required for states to calculate the benefits available for each eligible household in that state.

"USDA will therefore have made the necessary funds available and have authorized the states to begin disbursements once the table is issued."

To comply with the order from McConnell and another order from U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts, also issued Friday, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service "intends to deplete SNAP contingency funds completely and provide reduced SNAP benefits for November 2025," Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, said in a declaration attached to the status report. 

U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. had ordered the department on Friday to at least provide partial benefits by Monday. "If the government does want to use its discretion to use funds available to make a full payment of SNAP benefits for November, then it must expeditiously resolve the administrative and clerical burdens it described in its papers, but under no circumstances shall the partial payments be made later than Wednesday, Nov. 5," he said in his written order, issued Saturday after McConnell ruled from the bench on Friday.

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In his declaration, Penn said the contingency fund contains $5.25 billion. That amount will drop to $4.65 billion in November, once payments are made for state administrative expenses and a block grant to Puerto Rico.

That would leave enough money to cover half the benefits in November, Penn said.

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"Even in the absence of an appropriation, states must by law continue to accept applications and conduct eligibility determinations," Penn noted in his declaration. "States also must incur necessary expenses to re-calculate and distribute benefits." 

"USDA has determined that creating a shortfall in Child Nutrition Program funds to fund one month of SNAP benefits is an unacceptable risk, even considering the procedural difficulties with delivering a partial November SNAP payment, because shifting $4 billion dollars to America’s SNAP population merely shifts the problem to millions of America’s low-income children that receive their meals at school," Penn said.

Penn distinguished $300 million transferred in October to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children from the needs of the SNAP program. 

"[T]he magnitude of the amounts ($300 million for WIC in October 2025 versus $4 billion for SNAP) is a material consideration. While USDA believes there are sufficient funds in the Child Nutrition Programs to support WIC during these unprecedented circumstances, the agency does not believe the same is true for SNAP due to the significant differences between the amounts at issue."

He also said using child nutrition funds to cover a shortfall in SNAP "would further stray from congressional intent. While Congress has developed a statutory scheme for providing partial SNAP benefits and, according to the courts, provided contingency funds at a level it has deemed sufficient, USDA would ignore those provisions while also threatening its ability to administer Child Nutrition Programs if it were to repurpose funds Congress explicitly intended be used only for Child Nutrition Programs. A much smaller transfer for WIC does not undermine performance of the Child Nutrition Programs and raises no such concerns."

The top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, criticized USDA for refusing to transfer money into the SNAP program.

“The courts have ordered the administration to use its contingency fund to partially cover food assistance to families in need this month — and have made clear it can use its transfer authorities to fully fund SNAP,” Klobuchar said. “It is not enough to do the bare minimum — the administration should stop playing politics with hunger and use all available resources to ensure Americans can put food on the table.”

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