Trump administration will use contingency fund to pay partial SNAP benefits

Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture told a federal court that it will tap into a contingency fund to allow states to issue partial November benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the government shutdown.

In a declaration submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, Patrick Penn, a Department of Agriculture official who oversees the SNAP program, said the administration "intends to deplete SNAP contingency funds completely and provide reduced SNAP benefits for November 2025."

There are roughly $5.2 billion in food-aid contingency funds, according to Penn. Officials have said fully covering November benefits would require roughly $9 billion.

Justice Department lawyers separately told the court that the administration will "fulfill its obligation to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds" by providing states with information Monday to calculate benefits due to each eligible household.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.