USA Trump administration orders cuts to food aid
In the ongoing budget dispute, US President Donald Trump's administration has instructed the states to reduce payments of state aid for food purchases. "To the extent that states have already submitted full payments for November, this was not authorized. Such actions must be reversed immediately," said a memo from the responsible authority, which reports to the US Department of Agriculture.
09.11.2025, 19:23
09.11.2025, 20:26
SDA
The background to this is a legal tug-of-war over how much money can be paid out for the so-called Snap program ("Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program") during the shutdown, which has now been going on for 40 days. The Snap program is federally funded but administered by the states.
Previously, a judge in Rhode Island had provisionally ordered the Trump administration to pay out the benefits in full - even if emergency funds had to be used to do so. However, the Supreme Court initially suspended this order on Friday to give an appeals court more time to review the case. This left open the question of whether and when full benefits will actually be paid out again.
According to government figures, around 42 million people receive assistance through the program, which has been in place since 1964 - mainly families with children, single parents and the elderly.
