The Trump administration has said that it will provide only half of the normal food stamp benefits for November by tapping into the program's contingency fund amid the US federal government shutdown. But recipients are not likely to see the payments immediately.

Some $US4.65 billion ($7.1 billion) from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program's contingency fund will "be obligated to cover 50 per cent of eligible households' current allotments" for November, according to a sworn statement from a US Department of Agriculture official submitted in federal court.

The remaining $US600 million ($917 million) in the fund will be used for state administrative expenses and nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico and American Samoa.

The decision came after a federal judge in Rhode Island ordere

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