USDA Orders States to Undo November SNAP Benefits Already Issued With State Funds

The USDA issued a directive around November 9, 2025, ordering states that had issued November SNAP benefits using their own contingency funds to reverse those payments. States including New York and California had deployed state reserves to pay full November benefits while awaiting federal resolution of the shutdown. The directive created a legal and logistical crisis for states that could not easily reverse electronic benefit transfers already loaded onto recipients' EBT cards.