News outlets including Axios and CNN report that the Trump administration will not utilize Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contingency funds to pay for November benefits.

In an October 24 letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) signed by more than 200 House Democrats urging the use of the congressionally authorized $5 billion SNAP contingency fund to provide food assistance to eligible beneficiaries in November.

Axios, in a story published October 24, obtained an undated memo from the USDA, the agency that administers SNAP, saying that the contingency funds could not legally be utilized to pay for regular benefits. The memo also notes that states that choose to provide SNAP benefits during the shutdown will not be reimbursed.

The October 24 letter, led by House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture Ranking Member Jahana Hayes (D-CT) and Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-MN), states that the administration has the authority to use the contingency funds.

We will continue to report on the impact of the shutdown on SNAP.