Overview
- An Oct. 10 USDA letter directs state agencies to delay transmitting November SNAP issuance files to EBT vendors until further notice because of insufficient appropriations.
- Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said SNAP could run out of money in roughly two weeks if the funding lapse continues, imperiling monthly payments.
- States are taking precautionary steps: Minnesota told counties to stop approving new applications, New Hampshire says it is about 15 days from exhausting funds, and Texas officials confirmed the federal hold on November data.
- An administration official said 17 states stopped issuing October benefits to new applicants due to technical limits separating covered October payments from unfunded November loads.
- Food banks report they cannot absorb a shortfall of this scale, while federal stopgap options are constrained, with tariff revenue temporarily directed to WIC and other accounts offering limited relief for SNAP’s much larger costs.