Trump to pay 50% of food stamp benefits this month, but says no more money after that

The Trump administration said Monday that it will pay out 50% of food stamp benefits this month amid the government shutdown, but delays and other issues are expected as states rush to reconfigure their systems to make partial payments.

Once the contingency money is gone, officials said, they won’t be able to pay any more.

An Agriculture Department official rejected judges’ suggestions that the government tap money in the school lunch program to spend on food stamps. The department said it is up to Congress to reopen the government and resume all regular spending.

The decision to pay partial benefits is a reversal for the White House. It was made at the prodding of two federal judges who challenged the administration’s initial decision to withhold all food stamp money starting this month.

Deputy Undersecretary Patrick Penn said the Agriculture Department has $4.65 billion in a contingency fund that can be used for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, despite the partial government shutdown.

The program disburses approximately $9 billion monthly to SNAP recipients for grocery purchases.

The Trump administration previously said it would not pay the benefits because the SNAP program had been terminated during the shutdown. The administration hoped to use the loss of benefits to pressure Democrats to agree to reopen the government with no strings attached.

Two federal judges said the contingency money must be used, undercutting the White House’s stance.

Mr. Penn rejected the judges’ suggestions to siphon money from the government’s school lunch fund. He said that money must remain available in the Child Nutrition Program.

He called it a “no-win quandary.”

“Using billions of dollars from Child Nutrition for SNAP would leave an unprecedented gap in Child Nutrition funding that Congress has never had to fill with annual appropriations, and USDA cannot predict what Congress will do under these circumstances,” he said.

Mr. Penn warned that the transition to make the partial payments could be rough.

“Given the variation among state systems, some of which are decades old, it is unclear how many states will complete the changes in an automated manner with minimal disruption versus manual overrides or computations that could lead to payment errors and significant delays,” he said.

President Trump’s opponents in Congress criticized him for not securing the funds to pay full benefits. They said the president is inflicting pain on the program’s beneficiaries.

“Partial funding simply isn’t sufficient to keep food on the tables of American families who have already missed their benefits due to the administration’s reckless and illegal inaction,” said Rep. Yvette Clarke, New York Democrat and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Democrats said Mr. Trump is using the program as leverage in negotiations over the shutdown.

The administration said the law has tied its hands.

The shutdown, which began Oct. 1 and has now stretched into its second month, cut off the basic funding for food stamps, which must be reallocated every year.

Trump opponents went to court to argue that a $6 billion contingency pool, funded by Congress through Sept. 30, 2026, would allow the money to be used for some food stamp payments.

Trump officials said the shutdown effectively eliminated the SNAP program, rendering it impossible to spend the contingency funds.

U.S. District Judges Indira Talwani in Massachusetts and John McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island, both Obama appointees, sided with the administration’s opponents, ruling that the program remained in existence and that the contingency money should be used.

Mr. Penn said $750 million of the $6 billion contingency has already been used and the administration has earmarked another $600 million to help state agencies reconfigure their systems and to pay benefits in Puerto Rico and American Samoa.

That leaves $4.65 billion to be used for food stamp benefits, or enough to pay 50% of the current allotment.

Mr. Penn acknowledged the additional money available for child nutrition, some $25.2 billion that came from customs duties and wasn’t affected by the shutdown.

He said the Agriculture Department couldn’t be sure Congress would replenish any money taken from that, so using it now could damage the child programs and the 29 million children who benefit.

“Shifting $4 billion to America’s SNAP population merely shifts the problem to millions of America’s low-income children that receive their meals at school,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said the administration has the authority to do more.

“Providing partial benefits is not enough, is not compliant with the law, and it’s particularly cruel of Trump with the Thanksgiving season around the corner,” he said.

As of this spring, approximately 42 million people were using food stamps. Payments are staggered throughout the month, meaning several million have already missed their first allotment.

The average monthly benefit is about $175 per person, and the average household with children receives $574 monthly.

The shutdown sprang from Congress’ inability to pass spending bills for fiscal year 2026, which began Oct. 1.

The Republican-led House passed legislation to keep the government funded at the levels of most of the past two years, dating back to the Biden administration.

Senate Democrats have filibustered to block the money. They have said they won’t allow the government to reopen unless Congress also approves another extension of Obamacare pandemic subsidies and rolls back some of the health coverage trims that Republicans secured in the budget law enacted in July.

• Lindsey McPherson contributed to this report.