 "U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on board Air Force One on October 31, 2025 at Joint Base . File Image - AFP")
In the latest twist in an ongoing legal struggle over the federal nutrition assistance program, which supports 42 million Americans, the Trump administration has directed states to reverse full SNAP benefits distributed under court orders last week, following a US Supreme Court decision that temporarily blocked those rulings.
In a notice issued by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), states were told to treat the payments made under the lower court decisions as “unauthorised.” The order has alarmed state governments, with more than two dozen states warning of “catastrophic operational disruptions” if the federal government fails to reimburse them for benefits already distributed.
The dispute stems from lawsuits filed by Democratic attorneys general and nonprofits last month, which sought to block the administration’s attempt to scale back SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. Those groups initially prevailed in court, prompting states to quickly issue payments to millions of recipients before the Supreme Court granted the administration’s appeal late Friday night.
Even before securing the stay, the administration had resisted covering the costs of the disbursed funds. Wisconsin, for instance, credited benefits to 700,000 residents, but after the US Treasury froze reimbursements, state officials warned they could exhaust funds by Monday, according to a statement from Governor Tony Evers’ administration.
Without federal reimbursement, states fear they may be unable to pay vendors or maintain operations, potentially facing hundreds of millions of dollars in liabilities. “States could face demands to return hundreds of millions of dollars in the aggregate,” attorneys for several states said in a filing to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, adding that the fallout “would risk catastrophic operational disruptions… with a consequent cascade of harms for their residents.”
“To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized,” Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary of Agriculture, wrote to state SNAP directors. “Accordingly, States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsEvers issued a quick response to the Trump administration’s demand. “No,” the governor said in a statement.
“Pursuant to and consistent with an active court order, Wisconsin legally loaded benefits to cards, ensuring nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites, including nearly 270,000 kids, had access to basic food and groceries,” Evers 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.’ They have failed to do so to date.”
With inputs from agencies