The Trump administration will send partial payments this month to the roughly 42 million Americans who receive food stamps, offering only a temporary reprieve to low-income families as the government shutdown rapidly approaches its sixth week.
The government revealed its plans in a set of filings on Monday in federal court, just days after a judge found fault in the government’s attempt to stop funding those benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP.
But the roughly one in eight families that receive SNAP still may be at risk of hunger and financial hardship. The Trump administration opted against using other funds to sustain the program, meaning it may have enough to money to provide only about half of eligible households’ total food stamp benefits in November.
It also remained unclear when food stamp recipients might actually receive their aid, since the Trump administration itself had acknowledged previously in court that there could be substantial delays in provisioning SNAP on a partial basis during the shutdown.
The White House did not immediately to a request for comment.
“There’s a process that has to be followed,” Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, told CNN on Sunday. “So, we got to figure out what the process is. President Trump wants to make sure that people get their food benefits.”
Asked if that meant benefits could be paid by Wednesday, one of the options offered by a federal judge, Mr. Bessent replied: “Could be.”
For the Americans who depend on SNAP, the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, the whiplash began last month. In an abrupt shift, the Trump administration said it would not tap billions of dollars in reserve to fund benefits as the government shutdown stretched into November, despite previously indicating that it would.
The move prompted cities, states, religious groups and nonprofits to sue, as they looked to spare low-income families from severe and imminent hardship. Two different federal courts ultimately sided with them on Friday, and both imposed a Monday deadline by which the government had to communicate its next steps.
Only one of the judges, John J. McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, explicitly ordered the Trump administration to restart SNAP payments immediately. In a written order, issued Saturday, he said the Agriculture Department could either make full payments to SNAP recipients by Monday, or partial payments by Wednesday.
Judge McConnell gave the government those extra days after administration officials told the court that providing partial payments could take weeks, in some cases, because of technical constraints. In doing so, he encouraged the Trump administration to fund payments in full using a second account comprised largely of tariff revenues.
Mr. Trump himself appeared to acknowledge the prospect for delays, saying on Friday on social media that benefits would “unfortunately be delayed while states get the money out.”
Tony Romm is a reporter covering economic policy and the Trump administration for The Times, based in Washington.
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