President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Monday it would partially fund federal food assistance benefits amid an ongoing shutdown after Rhode Island and Massachusetts federal judges ordered the administration to use contingency funding on Friday.
The announcement comes after millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands in Iowa did not receive their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits on Saturday.
In a federal court filing on Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, said it would comply with the order and “will fulfill its obligation to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds today.”
The USDA has roughly $5 billion in contingency funds available for funding lapses, but did not have enough for the full $8 billion in benefits required to fully fund SNAP for November.
This means recipients will not get their full monthly benefits this month, but rather a prorated amount based on a table being created by the USDA.
