Millions of low-income families going without the SNAP benefits they needed to afford groceries during the government shutdown was a preview of what's coming under the Republican megabill—which could end SNAP altogether in some states:

Worth mentioning: USDA's position is that these SNAP eligibility restrictions were effective the day the law was enacted, July 4. But USDA didn't issue any implementation guidance to states until October 31. They didn't clarify aspects of that initial guidance until *this week.*

I'm going to hazard a guess that adding an unprecedentedly chaotic & disruptive government shutdown to the mix did not help states reduce errors

I don't think the public has fully grasped that the Republican megabill means that SNAP could end altogether in some states - or the extent to which the Administration is setting states up to fail, spiking the costs they'll face & making deep cuts to food assistance more likely.

States' administrative funding isn't the only thing at stake here. USDA is trying to amass the highly sensitive personal information of tens of millions of low-income people in a centralized database described by one former USDA official as "a prime target for malicious actors."

Monthly SNAP costs when Joe Biden became President in January 2021: $8.68 billion. Monthly SNAP costs when his term ended in January 2025: $7.97 billion. I don't think you need to whip out a calculator to figure out that's not a 40% increase.

The Trump Admin’s move to rescind the Biden-era public charge rule will cause fear and confusion among immigrants and their families, leading many to forgo needed health care, food, or other support out of concern it could affect their immigration status. www.cbpp.org/research/fed...

A tragedy in 3 parts: 1️⃣Scammers exploit outdated tech to steal SNAP from low-income families 2️⃣Congress ends replacement benefits for victims 3️⃣With victims bearing the cost, most states don't invest the $$$ for more secure payment methods & USDA slow-walks regs requiring them

Penalizing poor families for having a car or having minimal savings is pretty bad policy.

SNAP's status post-shutdown from @tyjonescox.bsky.social: "The public won’t soon forget that SNAP benefits were suspended, and they won’t like seeing more people lose their benefits permanently as the food assistance cuts in the Republican megabill get implemented."

After enacting the deepest #SNAP cuts in history & needlessly disrupting benefits during the shutdown, the Trump Administration is quietly advancing draft regulations to take SNAP away from millions more people – primarily working families with kids, seniors & disabled people.

On Friday, USDA reiterated that states were required to implement many of the megabill's SNAP cuts—major changes impacting millions of people—on the day it became law, with a grace period that ended 11/1. States won't get more time before they start being penalized for errors.

It is Friday.

Aside from the fact that SNAP participants already have to periodically recertify for benefits — usually every 6 or 12 months — SNAP rules also prohibit states from arbitrarily shortening a household's certification period to force them to reapply early.

As the shutdown ends, the Republican megabill’s #SNAP cuts — the deepest cuts to food assistance in history — are starting to go into effect. Millions of low-income people who just experienced delays & uncertainty during the shutdown are now at risk of losing SNAP permanently.

As one federal judge noted today, the Trump Administration's approach to SNAP during the shutdown "repeatedly shifted the goalposts for States, each time requiring States to rely on incorrect information not in accordance with the law." That just about sums it up.

Food assistance for low-income veterans isn't only at risk because of the shutdown. The Republican megabill's SNAP cuts specifically targeted veterans by eliminating their previous exemption from SNAP's harsh three-month time limit.

“Most egregious has been the Administration’s relentless effort to keep people from getting help affording food, leaving millions of people to go hungry for perceived political gain, even as the Administration admitted in court they had the resources and authority to provide assistance.”

After the chaos of constantly shifting USDA guidance over the last week, a quick SNAP recap: Some households received their full benefits. Some got partial benefits. Some got *different* partial benefits because USDA initially did the math wrong. Many have still received nothing.

I asked Georgetown law prof David Super wtf is going on with this latest demand for states to claw back benefits already sent out. He says the law doesn't allow for this, and if the USDA is mad that states already sent out SNAP money, too bad—they were following USDA's own guidance. Full comments:

#BREAKING: The Trump administration is asking #SCOTUS for an immediate “administrative” stay of a Rhode Island district judge’s order that is otherwise requiring it to resume the distribution of SNAP benefits from other funding sources no later than the end of today.

Update: USDA revised their #SNAP contingency fund plan to provide households with a larger share of their November benefits. This is an important but inadequate step. Families need their full benefits to afford groceries & the Administration has the authority to provide them.

Low-income families will see even deeper #SNAP cuts because the Administration plans to release only two-thirds of the funds it says are available, shortchanging millions who rely on benefits to afford food. More from @katiebergh.bsky.social: www.cbpp.org/blog/adminis...

If SNAP math is hurting your brain today, this is shows why USDA's 50% cut to maximum SNAP benefits translates into a much deeper cut to average benefits. Only households receiving the maximum benefit will see a 50% cut under USDA's plan – and everyone else gets cut more deeply.

NEW: Millions of poor Americans could see $0 in SNAP benefits even after the Trump admin agreed to resume partial benefits in response to a court order. This is because of the way the government has interpreted the directive, which could also delay aid for weeks. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/u...

Remember the lesson to watch what people DO rather than what they SAY? The Trump Admin has promised to help people afford basic needs like food, health care & housing but they are DOING the exact opposite. No family needed to miss November SNAP benefits. USDA can fix this.

Why does a 50% cut to maximum SNAP benefits = a ~60% cut in average benefits? A household's SNAP benefit = Maximum benefit - 30% of net income Most SNAP households have some income & get less than the maximum. A 50% cut to the maximum is a much greater % cut to their benefits.

New data: CBPP analyzed USDA’s contingency fund spending plan & found it is only going to release 2/3 of the funding they committed to in court filings, cutting families’ SNAP benefits far more than necessary, violating USDA’s own regulations & shortchanging millions of families.

Sensing a theme in megabill implementation: The Trump Administration is once again putting even more people at risk of losing SNAP benefits unnecessarily & setting states up to fail by issuing unclear guidance with unrealistic implementation timelines.

Let's be clear: Any delays as states work to implement partial benefits will be because the Administration has deliberately chosen not to transfer the funds needed for full benefits—which the courts affirmed they have the authority to do.

Doing the bare minimum because a court order forced their hand? That's not enough. The Administration could & should use their legal transfer authority so low-income families receive full SNAP benefits for November—and full benefits could get to those families more quickly.⤵️

The administration just told a court it's refusing do the same thing to ensure full SNAP benefits go out www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

"Still, the saga has laid bare the shutdown strategy at the White House, where Mr. Trump has been willing to shield only some Americans from the harms of a fiscal standoff that he has made no effort to resolve."

"Legal impediments?" Not one but two federal judges have now clarified that the Administration can use those contingency funds for November SNAP benefits—and in fact the law *requires* them to do so.

“The administration could have, and should have, taken steps weeks ago to be ready to use these funds. To further delay will rip away vital food assistance from millions of low-income families right before the holidays.”

As I was saying:

Reminder: This is happening at the same time some of the biggest cuts from the Republican megabill are also taking effect, meaning millions of people will soon lose SNAP benefits on a permanent basis. www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

Any appeal of the decision or further delay would just underscore that the Administration is choosing to rip away vital food assistance from millions of low-income families right before the holidays. x.com/sarahnferris...

The Administration could have, and should have, taken steps weeks ago to be ready to use these funds. Instead, it chose to unlawfully hold them up in an effort to gain political advantage. www.cbpp.org/press/statem...

Families cannot afford further delays. The Administration must immediately release the contingency reserves and use their legal authority to transfer additional funds so families can get the full benefits they need to buy food as quickly as possible.

Today’s rulings confirm what’s been clear all along: the Administration has been sitting on billions of available dollars that it is legally required to use to fund November benefits for the 1 in 8 Americans who need SNAP to afford their groceries.

If SNAP benefits don’t go out November 1, it’s not because of the shutdown or because SNAP ran out of money. It’s because the Trump admin is illegally refusing to use the money in the SNAP contingency fund. The same admin that enacted the largest cuts to SNAP in history.

Trump is funding what he wants to fund while denying food to hungry folks. And he has a contingency fund sitting right there that he obstinately refuses to use. prospect.org/2025/10/29/t...

> "a September contingency plan, since deleted from the USDA’s website...said Congress intended 'that SNAP’s operations should continue' and that contingency funds 'are also available to fund participant benefits in the event that a lapse occurs [mid-fiscal year]'" www.huffpost.com/entry/govern...

The Trump Administration’s assertion that it can't use SNAP’s contingency reserves for SNAP benefits is contrary to: ▪️The plain language of the law ▪️Their own (now deleted) shutdown plan ▪️Guidance from prior Administrations We have the receipts:

The Trump Administration is refusing to use SNAP’s contingency reserves — which Congress provided for this exact purpose — to help low-income families afford groceries next month. Nearly 90% of SNAP participants are in households with kids, seniors, or people with disabilities.

Congress provided SNAP's multi-year contingency reserves for use "in such amounts and at such times as may become necessary to carry out program operations." Those funds are now needed to carry out program operations. This isn't rocket science.

Food insecurity experts say this is the first government shutdown in which SNAP benefits have been at such severe risk.

USDA's position during this and prior shutdowns has been that the contingency reserve is available to pay for SNAP benefits during a funding lapse...until about 20 minutes ago, apparently.

SNAP, the country's largest anti-hunger program, dates back to the Great Depression and has never been disrupted this way. Most recipients are seniors, families with kids, and those with disabilities. n.pr/48PNNIt