A volunteer at a Food Bank of the Rockies distribution site in Aurora, Colorado, on Nov. 1, 2025, takes a picture of a heart-shaped potato before distributing food to people following the halt of SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans.
AJ Wark is watching closely how much SNAP will provide for November

SNAP recipients will receive at most 65% of benefits in November, rather than 50%, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in a guidance to states Nov. 5.

A family of four will receive at most $646 for the month, according to the new guidance. A single person would receive $193 in November, according to the new guidance.

USDA was ordered by two federal judges Oct. 31 to use its contingency fund to provide Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding after the Department said it couldn't legally use the contingency fund because of the government shutdown. The fund has been used to continue the food assistance program during other shutdowns.

The memorandum to the states provided no additional information about how the funds would be distributed or when, two questions that have left the nation's 42 million SNAP recipients scrambling.

The Trump administration told a federal judge in early November that it would spend a USDA contingency fund on SNAP, as ordered, but that it would only cover about half the benefits Americans normally receive. USDA warned a federal judge in a filing that it could take days, weeks or even a month for the money to arrive.

Hitting close to home

A.J. Wark, 21, a student a Texas A&M at Galveston is among those watching closely. At least part of their normal SNAP monthly amount "would be better than nothing," she said, but Wark is concerned that there is no announced timeline for when that money will arrive.

Wark applied for SNAP after their parents kicked them out over the summer, and said things are already getting tight.

"I've got some some frozen foods. The fridge is pretty much empty. I've got some some sauces, some ricotta in there, some rice that I made the other day," Wark said. "It's not what I like it to look like."

All the quick food Wark would normally heat up in their dorm-room's dinette between work and classes, like frozen potpies, is gone, and the campus food pantry is already overwhelmed. It has a hard time keeping protein in stock because so many students need it, she said.

Some pawn shop owners are watching the disbursement of SNAP benefits closely, said Clay Baron, owner of Dave’s A Pawnshop in downtown El Paso, Texas.

"When people need to figure out how to make ends meet, I’m expecting people to start bringing in anything they think they can get value out of," Baron said. "It’s a cliché, but the poor are just going to keep getting poorer."

In Rhode Island, the governor used a state emergency fund in November to provide SNAP families with children 25% of what they would normally receive.

Since then, family recipients have clogged phone lines and seniors and disabled recipients have lined up outside the Rhode Island Department of Human Services building where Stacy Smith, president of AFSCME local 2882 works in hopes of getting more information about where they can go for food or help.

Smith spoke to USA TODAY in her role as a union representative.

"We had a client that came in and was afraid she'd have to go back to eating cat food," Smith said. "It's so frustrating and disheartening. We're talking about humans, these are people, these aren't statistics, these aren't numbers on a paper, these are human lives. Children, elderly, veterans, working moms, working dads. That is who we serve."

Contributing: Lauren Villagran

Sarah D. Wire, a Senior National Political Reporter with USA TODAY, can be reached at swire@usatoday.com.

This story has been updated to add new information.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SNAP recipients to get as much as two-thirds of promised benefits.

Reporting by Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect