The U.S. Department of Agriculture directed states to roll back any steps taken to issue full food aid benefits to low-income Americans or risk financial penalties.
The new guidance issued late on Saturday follows a U.S. Supreme Court order on Friday that allowed the Trump administration to continue withholding $4 billion to fully fund the aid for nearly 42 million recipients, pending a lower court ruling.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps, lapsed at the start of the month for the first time in the program’s 60-year history due to the federal government shutdown, which is now in its 40th day.
Hours before the Supreme Court order, the USDA had informed states, opens new tab in a memo that it was working to comply with a federal judge’s order to fully fund SNAP, even as the administration moved to appeal the ruling.
After receiving that Friday memo, several states said they were beginning the process of issuing full benefits.
But those state actions are now unauthorized because of the Supreme Court order, the USDA wrote in guidance released on Saturday. State governments should instead issue only partial benefits, the USDA said.
“States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” the memo issued by the USDA late Saturday said.
“Failure to comply with this memorandum may result in USDA taking various actions, including cancellation of the Federal share of state administrative costs and holding states liable for any overissuances that result from the noncompliance,” the USDA said.
Some states had previously said they would fund November SNAP benefits using state funds. It was not immediately clear whether the memo applied to actions taken by those states. The USDA did not respond to a request for additional comment.
Massachusetts and New Jersey, which were among the states that said on Friday they were moving to issue full benefits to SNAP recipients, criticized the guidance by the USDA.
“If President Trump wants to penalize states for preventing Americans from going hungry, we will see him in court,” Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said in a written statement.
“We will continue to work with (Massachusetts) Attorney General (Andrea) Campbell to make sure everyone gets the full benefits they are owed,” Healey added.
A spokesperson for New Jersey’s Office of the Governor said in a statement that the state is closely monitoring developments.
“Washington Republicans’ determination to starve American citizens during this government shutdown is shameful,” the spokesperson said. “We hope that a fair resolution to this unnecessary, unprecedented problem is reached soon and federal funding for SNAP and other lapsed programs is backfilled.”
