The Trump administration over the weekend ordered states to stop distributing full food assistance benefits for November to the 42 million low-income Americans at risk of food insecurity.

A memo from the Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Service directs states to “immediately undo any steps taken to issue” full payments to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Instead, the White House is asking states to issue only partial payments – which are about 65 percent of a usual SNAP payment.

The memo warns states that if they do not comply with the orders, they will face consequences, including the cancellation of federal funding that states need to cover some of SNAP’s administrative costs.

The federal government pays for all SNAP benefits, but states adminis

See Full Page