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By Aliss Higham
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The end of the longest U.S. government shutdown in history came on Wednesday after President Donald Trump signed a Senate-approved bill to bring it to a close, following a House of Representatives' vote to restart food assistance for millions of Americans.
After weeks of mixed messages, some families are finally receiving their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, but others are still waiting.
A tangle of court orders, agency directives and political infighting in Washington, D.C., has left the nation’s largest anti-hunger program in chaos, with tens of millions of Americans wondering what happens next.
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Now the wait is set to be over for low-income families left waiting for their assistance, as SNAP benefits could be distributed sooner rather than later—albeit far later than usual for many recipients.
State agencies have now begun to release funds, with most recipients expected to receive their benefits within days of the shutdown's resolution.
But legal concerns persist because the Trump administration's Supreme Court appeal is still pending.
Why It Matters
SNAP benefits were not distributed as scheduled this month amid the government shutdown.
With 42 million low- and no-income Americans relying on the program—sometimes known as food stamps—to help them buy groceries, the disruption has raised concerns of Americans going hungry.
What To Know
SNAP benefits are distributed through electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, which function like debit cards and can be used at participating retailers. While the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds the program, payments are issued by state and local agencies, meaning disbursement dates vary depending on where recipients live.
Funding for food assistance has been severely disrupted since its regular appropriations expired on October 1. The Trump administration initially announced a freeze on benefits, citing legal limits on using contingency funds for routine payments.
The USDA later said it would provide partial funding for November. Several lawsuits followed, leading to a court ruling that ordered the federal government to issue full benefits to all 42 million recipients nationwide—though the administration has instructed state agencies not to release full payments.
Read more: Uncommon Knowledge: Judge Not Chuck Schumer on This Shutdown
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When Will SNAP Benefits Resume?
Over the weekend, several states—including Massachusetts, Hawaii, Oregon, Wisconsin, California, Kansas, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington—began releasing November SNAP payments following a federal court order. However, in many other states, millions of beneficiaries were still waiting for their funds.
On Monday, the Senate approved a funding bill, paving the way for the uncertainty over SNAP to be solved this week, now that the government shutdown has ended.
The House, which has been in recess since mid-September, passed the Senate-approved funding bill and Trump signed it, giving the USDA the authority to release the remaining funds for all 50 states and U.S. territories. State agencies will then distribute those payments to SNAP recipients.
The current proposal will extend SNAP funding through September 2026.
The program has been the focus of a complex legal fight that began late last month, when two major lawsuits urged federal courts to step in and restart SNAP funding amid the ongoing government shutdown.
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow it to halt full funding for the program, despite lower court rulings that have upheld a judge’s order requiring those payments to continue. Last week, Rhode Island District Judge John McConnell ordered the administration to fully fund SNAP. That ruling was affirmed by a federal appeals court until the Supreme Court temporarily froze McConnell’s order on Friday.
On the same day, the USDA said it was “working toward implementing November 2025 full benefit issuances” in line with the Rhode Island court’s decision. But a day later, the agency directed states to “immediately undo any steps taken” to issue those payments, creating further confusion. A federal judge blocked enforcement of that directive on Monday.
Update, 11/13/25, 4 a.m. EST, this article has been updated with further information on the timeline for November SNAP payments.
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