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People Some US states will be able to buy groceries with federally funded SNAP benefits on Saturday, while people in other states were still waiting for November food benefits, which were delayed due to a lengthy legal battle over the federal government shutdown.
trump The administration initially said last month it would not fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November because of the U.S. government shutdown. The ups and downs since then have increased the uncertainty for the roughly 1 in 8 Americans who receive monthly SNAP benefits to spend at grocery stores and farmers markets.
On Friday, some states began issuing full monthly SNAP benefits to people, a day after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to provide the money.
But on Friday night, Supreme Court Justice… Ketanji Brown Jackson That judicial order was temporarily halted to give the appeals court time to decide whether to issue a more permanent stay. Jackson did this because she handles emergency cases Massachusetts,
How are SNAP recipients faring?
About 42 million Americans receive SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps, to help buy groceries. Most have incomes below the poverty line, which is about $32,000 for a family of four.
An individual can receive a monthly maximum food benefit of about $300 and a family of four can receive up to about $1,000 in food benefits, although many people get less under the formula that takes their income into account.
Payment delays have led to increased demand at food banks and pantries across the country, as well as long lines for free food or drive-thru gifts.
Some states have made emergency funding available to food banks to help them respond to the growing need. Some states used their own dollars to make direct payments to people while federal benefits were in limbo.
Where have people got the benefits?
Whether or not SNAP beneficiaries see the money on their electronic benefits transfer card depends on where they live.
in Hawaii, oregon And in Wisconsin, officials acted quickly after a judge ordered full benefit payments Thursday and instructed their EBT providers to process full payments.
“Once we verified everything we left in a hurry,” Joseph Campus II, deputy director of Hawaii’s Department of Human Services, told The Associated Press.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, a Democrat, said state staff “worked through the night” to release all of November’s benefits to ensure every Oregon family that relies on SNAP could buy groceries over the weekend.
Officials in California, Kansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington also confirmed that some SNAP recipients were issued their full November payments on Friday.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, said more than 250,00 families who missed their regular monthly SNAP payments during the first week of November received their full amount on Friday. The remaining beneficiaries will receive their November funds on regularly scheduled dates later this month — if distributions are not blocked by legal challenges.
The Trump administration said in a legal filing with the Supreme Court that “the government has no ready mechanism to recover” funds that have already been disbursed.
How long can residents elsewhere wait?
Before Jackson ordered the freeze, Colorado and Massachusetts had said SNAP participants could receive their full November payments by Saturday. New York had said access to full SNAP benefits should begin by Sunday. New Hampshire said full benefits should be available over the weekend.
And Arizona, Connecticut and Minnesota all said full SNAP benefits should be accessible in the coming days.
Whether people will actually receive those benefits on their EBT cards is unclear.
The wait for people from some other states is likely to extend till next week. Several state officials said they were waiting for further guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP.
Why is November’s profit on hold?
Due to the federal government shutdown, the Trump administration originally said SNAP benefits would not be available in November. After two judges ruled that the administration could not waive the November benefits entirely, the administration said it would use an emergency reserve fund of more than $4.6 billion to provide partial benefits in November.
A judge on Thursday said that was not enough, and ordered other funds to be used to make the full monthly payments. The Trump administration appealed, asking a higher court to suspend any orders that would require it to spend more money than is available in the contingency fund. That’s why Jackson’s temporary restraining order was issued late Friday night.
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Associated Press correspondents from across the United States contributed to this report.