States administering a federal food assistance program serving about 42 million Americans faced uncertainty Monday over whether they could — and should — provide full monthly benefits during an ongoing legal battle involving the U.S. government shutdown.
President Donald Trump’s administration over the weekend demanded that states “cancel” all benefits paid under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for one day between the time a federal judge ordered full funding and the time a Supreme Court justice temporarily suspended that order.
A federal appeals court in Boston left the full benefits order in effect Sunday evening, although the Supreme Court order ensures the government won’t have to pay for at least 48 hours.
“The record shows that the government stood idly by for nearly a month, not prepared to make partial payments, while people who rely on SNAP received no benefits a week after November,” wrote Judge Julie Rikleman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
The Trump administration is also expected to ask judges to intervene again, and Congress is considering funding SNAP as part of a proposal to end the government shutdown.
Some states are warning of “catastrophic operational disruptions” if the Trump administration does not reimburse them for SNAP benefits they have already authorized. Meanwhile, other states provide partial monthly SNAP benefits with federal money or use their own funds to load electronic benefit cards for SNAP recipients.
The Trump administration initially said SNAP benefits would not be available in November due to the government shutdown. After some states and nonprofit groups filed lawsuits, judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island each ruled that the administration could not completely ignore November’s benefits.
The administration then said it would use an emergency reserve fund to provide 65% of the maximum monthly benefit. On Thursday, Rhode Island-based U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell said that was not enough and ordered SNAP benefits to be fully funded by Friday.
Some states moved quickly to order their EBT providers to pay full monthly benefits to SNAP recipients. Millions of people in those states received funds to buy groceries before Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson stayed McConnell’s order Friday evening, pending further deliberations by an appeals court.
Millions more people still have not received SNAP payments for November because their states were awaiting new guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP.
“Continued delays worsen the suffering of children, seniors and working families, and force nonprofits to shoulder an even greater burden,” Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said Monday. “If basic decency and humanity do not require the administration to ensure food security for all Americans, then multiple federal court judges ruling its actions unlawful must.”
The Trump administration has argued that the court order to grant full benefits violates the Constitution by encroaching on the spending power of the legislative and executive branches.
On Sunday, the Trump administration said states acted too quickly and mistakenly awarded full SNAP benefits after last week’s rulings.
“States should immediately reverse any action taken to provide full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” Patrick Penn, deputy assistant secretary of Agriculture, wrote to SNAP directors. He warned that states could face sanctions if they did not comply.
Wisconsin, which was among the first to receive full benefits after McConnell’s order, saw its federal reimbursement frozen. As a result, the state’s SNAP account could be depleted as soon as Monday, leaving no money to reimburse stores that sell food to SNAP recipients, according to a court filing submitted by those who filed the lawsuit.
Some Democratic governors have vowed to challenge any federal attempt to claw back money.
In Connecticut, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said “those who have received their benefits should not fear losing them.”
“No, Connecticut does not need to take back SNAP benefits already paid to the 360,000 people who rely on them for food and who should never have been caught in the middle of this political fight,” Lamont said. “We support them.”
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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.
