The drama surrounding SNAP payments is never ending, and now it’s just pathetic. Some states have already distributed benefits using their own funds, but many released funds today due to a court order that compelled the Trump administration to pay full benefits. Even though there was an emergency appeal going on, the administration did nothing to stop the payments going out to the states.
It seems that many of the states, if not all of them, were wired the funds on Friday. New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, promised to make benefits available starting today. According to Reddit and Facebook posts on local media outlets’ pages, those funds have appeared on at least some people’s cards. Well, the government gives and the government doth taketh away.
According to a memo sent to states yesterday, the USDA, which oversees the SNAP program, has ordered all of the states that paid out full benefits to reverse those payments. More to the point, they have been ordered to “undo” payments, as if writing a Word document or something. States that do not comply will apparently suffer severe sanctions.
Okay, now it’s just getting pathetic. I mean, I know that I’ve been rather harsh on SNAP recipients, but the joke has gone on long enough. I’ve had my laugh at their expense, even starving children, but enough is enough! Once the money makes it onto cards, that money should not be taken away, at least not for something like this, even though my position on SNAP has not changed.
I guess it’s kind of like direct deposit from your employer, something that SNAP recipients know nothing of. Okay, okay, I’ll stop. When you sign up, you agree to let your employer recoup any overpayment by putting in a debit ACH transaction that takes money from your bank account. In this case, however, I can’t imagine someone just taking those benefits away.
The Trump administration has told everyone that states are “unauthorized” to distribute benefits. Well, here in New York and I’m sure in many other states, the money is on the cards of recipients who were due payment on the 1st. Tomorrow will be the 2nd and so on.
So if the state claws the money back today in order to comply with the USDA’s order, that means people who have already gone out and purchased their junk food will see, what, a negative balance? Whoever heard of a negative SNAP balance? Those who were due money tomorrow and going forward might not see any money at all if, for example, New York does the USDA’s bidding and reverses those payments.
Now it’s gone from being a comedy routine to just plain cruelty. The states that issued benefits, knowing about the pending stay, will apparently face “consequences,” according to the Department of Justice.
The problem, according to NBC News, is that the states started sending out the files to their vendors before waiting for the final word from the Supreme Court. Those states that moved forward, which includes my state, will be penalized. It all comes down to that memo I mentioned, from the USDA sent to the states and available on their website.
“Pending any explicit direction to the contrary from Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), States must not transmit full benefit issuance files to EBT processors. Instead, States must continue to process and load the partial issuance files that reflect the 35 percent reduction of maximum allotments detailed in the November 5 guidance.”
It would appear that the USA is pissed off that some states, including mine, sent out full benefits rather than the partial payments that were authorized. According to several sources, many New Yorkers were waiting at the doors of Walmart locations and other grocery stores for them to open. And who can blame them? Even I can’t.
It did sound a little too good to be true that states paid out full benefits, but taking the money back seems a bit mean-spirited, even by my standards.
If you’ve been following my articles on the matter, you know that I feel no sympathy for these people and that I feel that SNAP should be abolished altogether. But what’s done is done, or at least it should be!
“To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized. Accordingly, States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025. Please advise the appropriate FNS Regional Office representative of steps taken to correct any actions taken that do not comply with this memorandum.
Per 7 CFR 271.7(h), failure to comply with this memorandum may result in USDA taking various actions, including cancellation of the Federal share of State administrative costs and holding States liable for any overissuances that result from the noncompliance.”
According to that memo, it seems that there will be hell to pay if states don’t, as they put it, “undo” the payments, likely leaving millions with overdrawn SNAP accounts given that those who got their funds today have likely already gone and spent it all, or at least most of it. I mean, if I were on SNAP, I would probably do that knowing that things might go from bad to worse.
Knowing this news, I would hope that SNAP recipients realize that, at any moment now, those funds will disappear, so if you’re going to mooch food, the time for that mooching is now!
I never saw this coming: the USDA ordering states to take back money? Unthinkable! Well, apparently not. Welcome to the new America, I guess.