USDA Orders States To Stop Giving Full Food Stamps To Hungry Families | EUROtoday

The Trump administration has reportedly ordered states to “immediately undo” any and all efforts to offer low-income households with full meals stamp advantages ― the most recent motion by the White House to dam hungry Americans from accessing meals help throughout the ongoing authorities shutdown.

States who don’t instantly comply with the order will face monetary penalties from the federal authorities, in response to an Agriculture Department (USDA) memo despatched late Saturday night time. The memo was first reported on by The New York Times.

A spokesperson for the USDA didn’t instantly reply to HuffPost’s request for remark.

President Donald Trump and his allies have thrown the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into chaos, refusing to totally fund it till lawmakers finish the longest authorities shutdown in U.S. historical past. About 42 million individuals depend on SNAP, which is funded by the federal authorities however largely managed by states.

After Democrats and a few nonprofits sued the administration over SNAP, a court docket ordered the USDA to at the very least pay partial advantages utilizing an current contingency fund. On Thursday, the court docket escalated the order by requiring the USDA to pay full advantages for this month by utilizing further accessible funds. Several states seized the second to urgently get meals help out to residents susceptible to starvation.

The Justice Department then appealed the choice to the Supreme Court, which issued an emergency order that quickly blocks full SNAP funds pending evaluation.

Americans who use SNAP usually pay for meals utilizing an digital profit switch system (EBT) card. States get meals advantages out to residents by sending information to EBT processors that then make the funds accessible on recipients’ playing cards.

The USDA memo from Saturday night time ordered states to solely ship information for “partial” advantages as a substitute of full advantages, warning they may lose entry to SNAP-related federal funding in the event that they didn’t comply ― even when states already started doling out full advantages to feed individuals.

“To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized,” the memo, written by high USDA official Patrick Penn, learn. “Accordingly, States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025.”

Democratic lawmakers have already begun slamming the administration over the transfer, with Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) calling the president “soulless” whereas Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) mentioned, “The cruelty is the point.”

“Trump’s USDA would rather go door to door, taking away the food assistance people have already received, than do the right thing and fully fund SNAP for November so that struggling seniors and children can eat,” House Agriculture Democrats posted on X. “It is incomprehensible and inconsistent with American values.”