USDA moves to partially fund November SNAP using contingency funds after court orders; agency resists tapping child nutrition money

In a Nov. 3 court filing, the USDA said it would obligate about $4.65 billion from SNAP’s contingency fund to provide partial Nov. benefits while reserving roughly $600 million for administration and U.S. territories; the agency told the court the contingency balance alone did not cover the roughly $9+ billion needed for a full month of benefits.

A senior USDA official, Patrick Penn, submitted a sworn declaration saying the agency intended to deplete the contingency fund to provide reduced Nov. payments and that state system changes to issue reduced allotments could take anywhere from weeks to several months in some states.

Federal judges in ⚓Rhode Island and 🏛️Massachusetts ordered the USDA to provide SNAP benefits for Nov. and said the agency could transfer Section 32 (child nutrition) funds to help cover the shortfall; the USDA asked courts for a stay and argued transferring roughly $4 billion from child nutrition funds would risk the child nutrition programs.

After the Nov. 3 filings, the USDA revised its benefit-reduction calculations in follow-up filings and guidance (Nov. 5–6), prompting additional judicial scrutiny and state preparations to issue larger or full benefits.