President Donald Trump’s administration is demanding that states “roll back” all SNAP benefits paid under judges’ orders last week, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked those rulings, marking the latest swing in a see-saw legal battle over the anti-hunger program used by 42 million Americans.
The USDA’s request came as more than two dozen states warned of “catastrophic operational disruptions” if the Trump administration did not reimburse them for SNAP benefits they authorized before the Supreme Court’s stay.
Democratic nonprofits and attorneys general sued to force the Trump administration to maintain the program in November. They won favorable rulings last week, resulting in the rapid release of benefits for millions in several states.
But even before it won a stay of those rulings via appeal to the Supreme Court on Friday evening, the Trump administration had refused to reimburse states for the first round of SNAP payments.
Wisconsin, for example, loaded benefits onto cards for 700,000 residents, but after the U.S. Treasury Department froze its payments to the state, it expects to run out of money by Monday, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ administration warned in a lengthy statement Sunday.
States have warned that the lack of funds could leave vendors unpaid and lead to mounting legal claims. “States may face claims to return hundreds of millions of dollars in total,” the lawsuit filed with the First Circuit Court of Appeals said. The file concludes that this situation “would risk catastrophic operational disruptions to the states, with a consequent cascade of harm to their populations.”
The filing arrived as the Agriculture Department informed states on Saturday that it would now consider any payments made last week “unauthorized.” “To the extent that states sent complete SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized,” Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture, wrote to state SNAP administrators.
“Accordingly, states should immediately reverse any steps taken to release full SNAP benefits for November 2025.” Evers issued a quick response to the Trump administration’s request. “No,” the governor said in a statement.
“Pursuant to and consistent with an active court order, the State of Wisconsin lawfully loaded benefits onto the cards, ensuring that nearly 700,000 Wisconsin residents, including nearly 270,000 children, have access to basic food and groceries,” Evers said.
After we did that, the Trump administration assured Wisconsin and other states that it was actively working to implement full SNAP benefits for November and would “complete the necessary processes to make the funds available.” They have failed to do so so far.”
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