The USDA told grocery stores not to give SNAP recipients special discounts as benefits remain unpaid amid the government shutdown.

States will likely experience procedural difficulties which would affect November SNAP benefits reaching households in a timely manner and in the correctly reduced amounts,” the USDA said.

The Trump administration told a federal judge Monday it will deplete a contingency fund to pay a portion of food stamp benefits in November.

The federal government told a federal judge on Monday that it will use all remaining contingency funds to provide reduced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in November.

The USDA will provide only half of SNAP benefits for November after a federal court ordered the agency to release contingency funds during the government shutdown.

USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden confirms the agency is preparing assistance that will be released once the government gets back to work.

The action comes two days after states sued the federal agency that administers SNAP benefits. Funds were set to stop flowing Saturday.

Senators repeatedly failed to pass a continuing resolution that would fund federal agencies and services including SNAP, also known as food stamps.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said Sunday on “Fox & Friends Weekend” thousands of illegal migrants have been taken off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and that there will be drastic reform to ensure those who are truly vulnerable receive benefits.

Two federal judges told the U.S. Department of Agriculture it must begin using contingency funds to provide food assistance, but gave the agency until Monday to decide exactly how to do so.

An average of 41.7 million people, or 12.3 % of the U.S. population, received SNAP benefits each month in Fiscal Year 2024, according to the USDA. October 2025 reports indicate that about 42 million Americans participate in SNAP monthly.

One in eight Americans are dependent on a food assistance program called Snap, which has gone unfunded since Saturday.