Washington — The U.S. Department of Agriculture told a federal court that it will tap into a contingency fund to allow states to issue partial November benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the government shutdown .

In a declaration submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, Patrick Penn, a Department of Agriculture official who oversees SNAP, said the administration "intends to deplete SNAP contingency funds completely and provide reduced SNAP benefits for November 2025."

There is roughly $4.6 billion in the contingency fund that can be used to cover November benefit payments, according to Penn. Officials have said fully covering those benefits would require roughly $9 billion. The $4.6 billion will be used to "cover 50% o

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