The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will allocate about half of the total SNAP funding, also known as food stamps, although it may take several months for beneficiaries to receive the payments, the USDA said in a report submitted to the federal court in Rhode Island on November 3.
Judge John J. McConnell of Rhode Island issued a ruling in late October requiring the USDA to use its $4.65 billion contingency fund to cover part of the SNAP budget or provide one full month of benefits using other reserves, such as the Child Nutrition Program (CNP). The judge also required the administration to report back on how it would implement the order by November 3.
The USDA decided to release the $4.65 billion contingency fund, which accounts for about half of the $9.1 billion needed to fund SNAP for the entire month of November. The department has until the end of November 5 to transfer the funds from the contingency account to the SNAP budget.
Judge McConnell noted that calculating and processing the benefits would require some time, so he extended the implementation deadline for the USDA until the end of November 5. However, Patrick A. Penn, a senior USDA official, stated that completing the administrative procedures to calculate and issue monthly SNAP payments within that timeframe is “almost impossible,” partly because some states’ benefit processing systems are outdated.
Penn said the federal government must provide updated calculation tables to the states, which will then send updated data to vendors to load the benefits onto recipients’ cards.
It is still unclear how much in food stamp benefits recipients will receive or when the payments will be made. Penn noted that it could take “from a few weeks to several months” to finalize the calculations. The USDA also did not specify how it would respond if the government shutdown extends beyond November.
About 42 million people currently rely on SNAP, with each receiving an average of $188 per month. The beneficiaries of the food stamp program primarily include the elderly, people with disabilities, and low-income families with young children.
To qualify for SNAP in 2025, a household’s net income, after certain allowable deductions, must not exceed the federal poverty threshold. For a family of four, this is approximately $32,000 per year.