Cut Food Aid Payments To Low-Income Families, Trump Tells States
The President Donald Trump administration has directed U.S. states to stop issuing full food aid benefits to low-income families.
A memo issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), instructs states to provide only 65% of benefits following a Supreme Court ruling allowing the administration to withhold some funding pending further legal proceedings.
Over 42 million Americans who depend on SNAP began receiving reduced benefits this month amid the ongoing government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.
Some states had been using emergency funds to supplement the aid and ensure recipients received full benefits.
“States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” the USDA said in its Saturday memo.
The directive represents the administration’s latest move in an escalating legal and funding battle over SNAP, which provides food assistance to about one in eight Americans and costs nearly $9bn (£6.9bn) monthly.
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The legal dispute began after the USDA announced that benefits would be halted in November due to the shutdown-related funding gap. A lower court had ruled that SNAP benefits should be paid in full, prompting the White House to appeal.
On Friday, the Supreme Court issued an emergency order temporarily allowing the Trump administration to withhold $4bn (£3.04bn) in SNAP funding.
