Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said all SNAP recipients should receive their November payments by Monday “at the latest” after a weekslong delay caused by the recent government shutdown.
The suspension of SNAP benefits stressed millions of recipients and placed a larger burden on food banks trying to fill the gaps. It also sparked confusion among states as courts weighed whether the federal government was obligated to cover states’ SNAP payments during the shutdown.
As a result, some states paid full benefits, others paid partial benefits and some paid none.
“We immediately last night began moving out, making sure the program continues unabated starting once the government reopened, and hopefully by the end of this week most will receive it, at the very latest on Monday,” Rollins said Thursday on CNN.
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She noted that timing could still vary by state.
“Keep in mind the SNAP program is funded by the federal government, but it is the 50 states, each with its own infrastructure, that move that money out — a patchwork that made it so complicated,” she said.
An estimated 42 million Americans use SNAP, representing 12 percent of the U.S. population.
