The Trump administration is ordering US states to stop paying full food aid benefits to low-income American families, saying they are “unauthorised”.
A memo from the US Department of Agriculture, which runs the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), said states can deliver just 65% of benefits after the Supreme Court allowed the administration to withhold some funding pending further legal hearings.
More than 42 million Americans who rely on the food aid began receiving only partial benefits this month due to the ongoing US government shutdown.
Some states had been issuing full benefits after a federal judge last week ordered the Trump administration to fully fund the programme.
The USDA memo directs states, which administer the programme that relies on federal funds, to stop paying out 100% of November’s benefits and to claw back any funds they have already distributed above the 65% threshold.
“States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” the USDA said in its Saturday memo.
If states don’t comply with the latest guidance, the agency warned it may cancel federal funding for state administrative costs, and hold states “liable for any overissuances”.
The BBC has contacted the White House and the USDA for comment.
The latest memo comes after the USDA told states on Friday that it is working towards issuing full benefits as it sought to comply with a lower court order requiring it to do so using emergency funds. The Supreme Court later paused that lower court order.
New York, Massachusetts, California, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania are among the states who had begun paying out full benefits to Snap recipients.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, wrote in a Sunday post on X that his response to the request to return the benefits was a simple “no”.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said in a statement that if “President Trump wants to penalize states for preventing Americans from going hungry, we will see him in court”.
The Democratic governor said the funds had already been sent to recipients late last week in accordance with the earlier guidance received from the USDA.
The clawback request is the Trump administration’s latest move in the funding battle over Snap, also known as food stamps, as the longest government shutdown in US history drags on.
The legal saga was spurred after the USDA announced benefits would be halted in November due to the lack of funding over the shutdown.
On Friday night, the Supreme Court issued an emergency order temporarily allowing the Trump administration to temporarily withhold $4bn (£3.04bn) of funding for the benefits while it appeals the lower court’s order.
The Snap programme is used by around one in eight Americans and costs almost $9bn (£6.9bn) a month.
A family of four on average receives $715 per month, which breaks down to a little less than $6 per day, per person.
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