The Trump administration announced that it would be doling out full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the month of November, after previously appealing a court order mandating full SNAP benefits.
In a memo, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) revealed that the agency’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) was “working towards implementing November 2025 full benefit issues” in order to comply with a court order. The memo added that “later today,” FNS would be completing processes in order to make “funds available” for SNAP.
“FNS is working towards implementing November 2025 full benefit issuances in compliance with the November 6, 2025, order from the District Court of Rhode Island,” the USDA’s memo said. “Later today, FNS will complete the process necessary to make funds available to support your subsequent transmittal of full issuance files to your EBT processor.”
The USDA’s memo comes after the Department of Justice (DOJ) “filed a notice of appeal” in response to an order from U.S. District Judge John McConnell from Rhode Island on Thursday, giving the Trump administration a day to “make full payment” of SNAP benefits for November, according to USA Today.
On Friday, the DOJ requested that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit pause McConnell’s order:
The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal Nov. 6 — the same day Rhode Island federal judge John McConnell ordered the administration to make full payment of November SNAP benefits to the states within a day. On Nov. 7, it asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to halt McConnell’s order by 4:00 p.m. EDT.
“There is no lawful basis for an order that direct (the U.S. Department of Agriculture) to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,” the administration said in its request.
As a result of the ongoing government shutdown, which has reached 38 days, around 42 million SNAP recipients did not receive their benefits at the beginning of the month.
Breitbart News’s Hannah Knudsen reported on November 3 that the Trump administration had told another Rhode Island judge that partial SNAP benefits for November would be given out by tapping into “billions of dollars in contingency funds.”
Democrats such as Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) have admitted that while “shutdowns are terrible,” and families would experience suffering, it is about leverage for Democrats.
“Shutdowns are terrible, and of course there will be families that are going to suffer,” Clark said during an interview on Fox News. “We take the responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage times we have.”
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