An official with the Agriculture Department told a federal court Wednesday that allotments to SNAP beneficiaries for November will be 65% of their normal rate instead of the 50% previously estimated by the Trump administration.
The administration had told a federal judge Monday that it would use more than $4 billion in contingency funds to distribute half of the monthly benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, during the ongoing government shutdown.
The revised figures mean a family of four in the lower 48 states will receive about $646 for the month.
It’s unclear what prompted the change, but the Department of Justice is calling it an “error” that they worked to fix “as soon as it was discovered.”
The new rate was disclosed in a court filing Wednesday night by Patrick Penn, the Agriculture Department’s deputy under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.
Exact timing for distributing benefits to the more than 40 million recipients is still uncertain. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a social media post Monday that it will take “several weeks to execute partial payments.”
She added that when the government reopens, “FULL benefits can get to families without delay.”
The government shutdown entered its 36th day on Wednesday, making it the longest in U.S. history.
Numerous states have enacted plans designed to help bridge the funding gap.
