Trump Order Halts Full Dispersal of SNAP Benefits in NC
States told by Trump administration to ‘undo’ full SNAP benefits paid for November
After issuing partial November benefits to North Carolinians who participate in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, on Friday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) was on track to issue the remaining full benefits over the weekend. However, a decision by the White House to appeal a court ruling forced NCDHHS to pause its payout.
“This is about a basic necessity – food – being caught in the middle of political chaos,” said Gov. Josh Stein. “The hard-working people and families who rely on SNAP benefits deserve certainty, not confusion about whether they’ll be able to put meals on the table this weekend and the rest of the month.”
According to Stein, private partners have stepped up and joined the state’s efforts to support local food banks across North Carolina, with relief funding totaling nearly $22 million.
In a release on Friday announcing the dispersal of full SNAP benefits, US Rep. Alma Adams of Charlotte said North Carolina SNAP recipients would be issued 65% of their regular SNAP benefits immediately with an additional 35% expected to come as soon as the weekend. Her statement came before the issuance of that final 35% was halted.
“After weeks of fighting the Trump administration’s unlawful actions, help is finally on the way for 1.4 million North Carolinians who rely on SNAP to make the ends meet, including 34,000 households in my district,” Adams wrote.
“This funding was only administered because Democrats sued the USDA to release SNAP benefits and stop holding the American people hostage,” she continued. “The Trump administration has made it clear that they have no desire to administer SNAP and will choose to let people go hungry unless they are forced to do so. This is far from the last fight SNAP faces and Democrats are ready to defend the lifesaving program because in the richest country in the world, no one should go to bed hungry.”
Shutdown chaos surrounds SNAP
Following a late Friday emergency ruling from the US Supreme Court, the Trump administration instructed states that authorized full November nutrition assistance benefits to return a portion, another unprecedented reversal for a program that helps 42 million people afford groceries.
A Saturday memo from the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service said states should fund 65% of benefits for users of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, often called food stamps.
Those that had authorized full payments in line with earlier administration guidance should “immediately undo” that action, according to the memo.
“To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized,” the memo said. “Accordingly, States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025. Please advise the appropriate FNS Regional Office representative of steps taken to correct any actions taken that do not comply with this memorandum.”
President Donald Trump and top administration officials have said they cannot pay full SNAP benefits during the government shutdown that began Oct. 1 and instead, under court orders, are using a contingency fund to make partial payments.
Saturday’s guidance from Patrick A. Penn, the department’s deputy under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, marked the latest turnaround in a chaotic few days for the agency, states that administer SNAP and the millions of Americans who depend on it to afford food.
Penn wrote that, in light of the Supreme Court’s order pausing lower court rulings that USDA must pay full November benefits, the administration was returning to its position that SNAP benefits should be funded at 65%.
States such as Wisconsin and Kansas that issued full benefits did so under a Friday memo, also signed by Penn, that said states should authorize full payments for SNAP, consistent with a Thursday ruling in federal court.
Kansas, Wisconsin, Oregon govs express dismay
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, expressed disappointment with the administration’s appeal to the Supreme Court in a late Friday statement, noting that the state had authorized full payments earlier in the day for all eligible Kansans.
“These Kansans, most of them children, seniors or people with disabilities, were struggling to put food on their plates,” she said. “Why the President would petition the highest court to deny food to hungry children is beyond me. It does nothing to advance his political agenda. It does not hurt his perceived enemies. It only hurts our most vulnerable and our reputation around the globe.”
In a Sunday statement, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, flatly refused to try to claw back any authorized benefits. The state acted in compliance with a court order, he said.
“After we did so, the Trump Administration assured Wisconsin and other states that they were actively working to implement full SNAP benefits for November and would ‘complete the processes necessary to make funds available,’” he said. “They have failed to do so to date.”
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said her state will not comply.
“Oregon acted lawfully, given the federal court’s directive and the communications with the USDA, and my decision to ensure SNAP benefits went out quickly was in direct alignment with my food emergency declaration,” said Kotek, a Democrat. “I am disgusted that President Trump has the audacity to take taxpayers’ money away from them when they are in crisis. I have a question for the President: What would he prefer to spend the money on over groceries for people in need? This is ridiculous, immoral, and Oregon will fight this every step of the way.”
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement: “Let’s be clear about what this is — the Trump administration is demanding that food assistance be taken away from the households that have already received it. They would rather go door to door, taking away people’s food, than do the right thing and fully fund SNAP for November so that struggling veterans, seniors, and children can keep food on the table. It is incomprehensible, incompetent and inconsistent with our values as Americans.”
Conflicting court actions
The earlier order, from US District Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island, told the department to use sources outside the contingency fund to make full November payments by Friday. The order was appealed to the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals.
But Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, acting on behalf of the high court, granted the administration’s request for an emergency stay on Friday night, speeding up the process for what Jackson said would then be an “expeditious” decision by the appeals court but also changing things yet again.
No longer, for the moment, required by a court order to pay full November benefits, the administration instructed states in the Saturday memo to have the vendors that process payments to the electronic benefit transfer cards withhold part of the month’s allotment.
“States must not transmit full benefit issuance files to EBT processors,” Penn wrote. “Instead, States must continue to process and load the partial issuance files that reflect the 35 percent reduction of maximum allotments detailed in the November 5 guidance.”
SNAP funding has been a key issue during the shutdown. In a plan published Sept. 30, the USDA said it would continue to pay for the roughly $9-billion-per-month program through its contingency fund. The administration reversed itself 10 days later, telling states there would be no SNAP available for November.
A bipartisan US Senate bill filed Sunday would end the shutdown. It includes provisions to fully fund SNAP, the contingency fund and the $23-billion children nutrition programs fund that may be a source of emergency funding for SNAP if the shutdown persists.
Read more: Looming SNAP Pause Will Impact 1.4M North Carolinians in Urban and Rural Counties Alike
This article was originally published by the States Newsroom, which includes NC Newsline. Kansas Reflector Editor in Chief Sherman Smith, Wisconsin Examiner Editor in Chief Ruth Conniff, and Oregon Capital Chronicle Editor in Chief Julia Shumway contributed to the original report.
Ryan Pitkin with Queen City Nerve also contributed additional reporting to the article before publishing here.
