The administration of President Donald J. Trump announced that roughly $4.65 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contingency fund will be used to provide approximately fifty percent of each eligible household’s benefits for November.

The move follows recent court orders requiring the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to maintain benefit payments despite the ongoing federal government shutdown.

Beneficiaries will not receive full assistance this month, and the agency confirmed that no funds remain to cover new applicants, disaster allocations or any additional allotments beyond the reduced payments.

States administering SNAP must adjust their systems and benefit-calculation protocols to reflect the reduced payments; according to USDA estimates, some states may face delays of several weeks or even months before recipients receive their cards.

Legal and policy stakeholders noted that the decision marks the first reduction in SNAP payments in the programme’s roughly 60-year history.

The administration declined to tap approximately $23 billion in separate child-nutrition funds (Section 32) to cover the shortfall, citing the need to reserve those funds for nutrition support for children.

The refusal drew criticism from advocacy groups, which are now exploring additional litigation to secure full benefits.

The partial funding comes as the shutdown enters its fifth week, creating mounting pressure on federal safety-net programmes and raising questions about food security at a critical time.

With hunger-relief organisations reporting increased need, the truncated benefit level adds urgency to efforts to resume full operations.

While the White House framed the reduced payment as the most feasible immediate response given fiscal constraints, the partial disbursement underscores the broader impact of the funding stalemate on low-income Americans and the operational challenges facing state benefit systems.