The Trump administration over the weekend ordered states to “undo” certain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments recently sent out to beneficiaries.
The Department of Agriculture issued the Saturday memo in response to a Supreme Court ruling released Friday evening that stayed a lower court’s ruling ordering the Trump administration to deliver full SNAP payments on hold while the matter plays out in an appeals court.
“To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized. Accordingly, States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” the USDA memo reads.
The legal battle over SNAP, a federal welfare program, sparked last month when the government shut down.
The shutdown affected SNAP payments sent out monthly to millions of beneficiaries, leading to a slew of Democratic-led states joining lawsuits challenging the Trump administration for not issuing full welfare payments.
On Oct. 31, U.S. District Judge John McConnell ordered the USDA to deliver SNAP payments by tapping into federal emergency funding.
The Trump administration agreed to tap into one of the USDA’s emergency reserves, but said doing so would allow the government to send out only half-payments to beneficiaries for their November food stamps, even after fully depleting the fund.
McConnell said the plan for partial payments was unacceptable. On Thursday, the Rhode Island judge ordered the USDA to tap into other emergency funding to make up the difference, leading the federal agency to announce it was working to deliver full SNAP payments for November in compliance with the directive.
Still, the Trump administration appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit.
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday evening temporarily blocked the McConnells’ ruling as the case plays out in the appeals court.
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After Jackson’s decision, the USDA told states it would now consider any payments made last week to be “unauthorized.”
“To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized,” Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary of agriculture, wrote in his Saturday memo to state SNAP directors, asking states to issue only partial payments, or around 65% of the typical welfare payment.