Court rulings, USDA guidance, and congressional action on SNAP

Key Takeaways

On October 31, NACo, in partnership with the National League of Cities (NLC), sent a letter urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to release the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contingency funds to minimize the disruption of November benefits during the ongoing federal government shutdown. According to USDA, the SNAP contingency fund has $4.65 billion for November benefits, falling short of the roughly $8 billion needed to cover the month’s expected benefit costs. Ultimately, participants did not have their benefits refilled on November 1, and in the ten states where counties administer SNAP, and local officials are managing disruptions from the federal government shutdown while implementing changes from H.R. 1.

Also on October 31, in litigation brought by 26 states in Massachusetts, a federal judge found the plaintiffs likely to prevail on their claim that USDA is legally required to use the contingency funds and ordered USDA to outline a benefits distribution plan by Monday, November 3. In a separate case brought by a coalition of nonprofits, a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered USDA to release the contingency funds immediately. 

The subsequent developments are summarized in the timeline below:

• NOVEMBER 3: USDA stated that it would utilize the contingency funds for partial SNAP benefits.
• NOVEMBER 4: USDA released guidance to administrators instructing them to reduce November benefits by roughly half. USDA also released issuance tables that reflect the reduced maximum allotments for households. At this time, it is expected that there will be delays in benefits reaching participating households, with timelines varying by state.
• NOVEMBER 5: USDA released revised guidance to administrators and new issuance tables. The maximum SNAP benefit allotments will be reduced by 35 percent, not 50 percent. However, administrators will still then have to deduct 30 percent of the household’s net income from the reduced maximum SNAP allotment amount.
• NOVEMBER 6: A federal district judge in Rhode Island ordered USDA to use its transfer authority to send funding for full November SNAP payments to states by Friday, November 7. However, the U.S. Department of Justice quickly filed an appeal for not only this ruling, but also the prior rulings that required USDA to provide partial funding of SNAP benefits with the SNAP contingency fund.
• NOVEMBER 7: FNS released guidance stating that they are working towards implementing full benefit issuances. Supreme Court Justice Jackson issued an administrative stay of the Rhode Island District Court order requiring the USDA to issue full SNAP benefits, giving the court time to rule on the Administration’s appeal.
• NOVEMBER 8: FNS released guidance suggesting that any action to issue full benefits was “unauthorized” and that steps needed to be taken to “undo” that issuance. In the guidance, FNS also instructed states to continue issuing benefits that reflect the 35 percent reduction of maximum allotments detailed in the November 5 guidance.
• NOVEMBER 9: The First Circuit denied the Administration’s appeal, finding that the Rhode Island district court judge did not abuse his discretion in finding the government’s plan for partial nutrition aid payments would cause unacceptable delays.
• NOVEMBER 11: The U.S. Senate passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) and a three-bill "minibus" package, which would reopen the government and fund SNAP until September 2026. The bill is expected to be voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives this week. 

NACo will continue to monitor developments in litigation involving SNAP, congressional action and guidance from USDA.