A man walks past an EBT payment sign posted on the front window of a grocery store in Philadelphia, in October. Matt Rourke/AP

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

Some $4.65 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s contingency fund will “be obligated to cover 50% 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 $600 million in the fund will be used for state administrative expenses and nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico

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