Will SNAP benefits be issued in November 2025? What we know

• As the federal government shutdown stretched into late October, social media users claimed SNAP benefits, often referred to as “food stamps,” would not be issued in November 2025 because of the ongoing federal government shutdown.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in an Oct. 10 letter to state agencies that if the shutdown continued, there would be “insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits” for approximately 42 million Americans who rely on the program.
• In the days that followed, multiple U.S. states issued alerts to SNAP recipients, warning that they may not receive their benefits in November if the shutdown was not resolved. 
• According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, billions of dollars in contingency funding are available for SNAP, some of which could be used to fund benefits. However, it remained unclear at the time of publishing whether the USDA planned to tap into those reserves to fund SNAP benefits or how many many recipients the funding could support. 
• It was also unclear whether the Trump administration would reallocate additional funding for SNAP from another source, as it did for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, more commonly known as WIC.

As the federal government shutdown stretched into late October 2025, social media users warned of potential disruptions to the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food benefits to millions of low-income Americans. 

On average, SNAP provides $188 per month, or about $6 per day, in benefits to help seniors, people with disabilities and families purchase household food staples. 

One TikTok user (archived) claimed SNAP benefits, often referred to as “food stamps,” would not be issued in November 2025 due to the ongoing shutdown, citing notifications from the federal government and individual states. A similar claim circulated on Instagram (archived), where a user alleged that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration decided not to issue food stamps in November.  

Warnings like these prompted multiple Snopes readers to search our website for information about November SNAP benefits. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture stated in an Oct. 10 letter to state agencies that if the shutdown continued, there would be “insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits” for approximately 42 million Americans who rely on the program. In the days that followed, multiple U.S. states issued alerts to SNAP recipients, warning that they may not receive their benefits in November if the shutdown was not resolved. 

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, billions of dollars in contingency funding are available for SNAP, some of which could be used to fund benefits. However, it remained unclear at the time of publishing whether the USDA planned to tap into those reserves to fund SNAP benefits or how many recipients the funding could support. 

The USDA declined to answer Snopes’ questions about the contingency funds or whether recipients could receive partial benefits in November, referring us to the Oct. 10 letter. A spokesperson for the agency provided the following statement:

We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. Continue to hold out for healthcare for illegals or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments.

Snopes previously debunked claims that congressional Democrats forced a government shutdown because they want to fund free health care for immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally. 

Below is a breakdown of what we know so far about November SNAP benefits. We will update this story as new information becomes available.

States issued warnings following USDA notice

In its Oct. 10 letter warning of insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits, the USDA also directed states to delay submitting their November benefit issuance files to electronic benefit transfer vendors. States normally send these files, which contain information on the benefit amounts for each eligible SNAP household, to EBT vendors each month so they can process the data and load cards with the upcoming month’s benefits, according to the Food Research & Action Center (archived).

Since then, multiple states have warned that SNAP recipients may experience delays or not receive benefits at all in November if the shutdown continues. 

For instance, on Oct. 20, the Oregon Department of Human Services announced (archived) it was notifying the state’s SNAP recipients that they “will not receive new benefits after Oct. 31 because of the federal shutdown.” The next day, Oklahoma Human Services said (archived) that the USDA notified it that federal funding for SNAP would be “suspended” beginning Nov. 1.

We asked the USDA and Oklahoma Human Services for clarification on what “suspended” meant in this context and await a response.

Pennsylvania’s government also announced on Oct. 17 that November SNAP benefits “cannot be paid” because of the shutdown. The state said it would notify SNAP recipients when payments can resume.

Other states that issued warnings include New York, Illinois and New Jersey, where residents may lose their benefits beginning Nov. 1 or experience delays in receiving them.

Texas Health and Human Services warned (archived) that November SNAP benefits would not be issued if the shutdown extends past Oct. 27.

Meanwhile, Missouri’s Department of Social Services (archived) said the agency would not be able to distribute November benefits until it received further notice from the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. On its FAQ page about the shutdown’s impact on SNAP benefits, the department wrote:

The federal government is not releasing funds for SNAP benefits yet for November, due to the government shutdown.  Your November SNAP benefits may be delayed or may not be provided at all, depending on what the federal government decides.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom added (archived) that benefits for CalFresh, the state’s SNAP program, would “likely be delayed in November” if the federal government did not reopen by Oct. 23.

Contingency funds available, but use remains uncertain

In its shutdown plan (archived) dated Sept. 30, 2025, the USDA said “multi-year contingency funds” are available to fund SNAP benefits during a lapse in appropriations.  

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (archived), Congress made $6 billion in contingency funding available for SNAP through the 2024 and 2025 appropriations laws. Under the USDA’s shutdown plan, some of that money would be used to cover states’ administrative expenses, meaning the full $6 billion is unlikely to be available for SNAP benefits alone. 

However, because the federal government’s share of administrative expenses is estimated at less than $500 million per month, more than $5 billion should remain available for SNAP benefits, the CBPP said. Still, that amount would fall short of the approximately $8 billion needed to fully fund one month of SNAP benefits nationwide.

At the time of this writing, it remained unclear whether the USDA would use a portion of the contingency funding to provide at least partial SNAP benefits in November. The agency declined to comment on the potential use of such funds. 

It’s also possible that the Trump administration could reallocate additional funding for SNAP from another source, as it did for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, more commonly known as WIC, during the current shutdown. However, neither the USDA nor the administration have indicated such a plan to fully fund SNAP benefits. 

Snopes reached out to the White House for comment and will update this story if we receive a response.