Department of Agriculture orders states to “undo” SNAP benefits issued

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Trump administration, in a late-night memo published on Saturday, demanded that any states working to provide full food stamp benefits via SNAP stop any steps they were taking to do so.

The Department of Agriculture threatened to impose financial penalties on states that do not “comply” quickly with their new orders.

“States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” Patrick Penn, the Deputy Secretary of Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services for USDA, wrote in the memo.

“Failure to comply with this memorandum may result in USDA taking various actions, including cancellation of the Federal share of State administrative costs and holding States liable for any overissuances that result from the noncompliance,” he added.

The new USDA directive comes as the U.S. Supreme Court granted the U.S. Department of Agriculture an administrative stay to pause SNAP benefits while the legal battles over them continue to play out.

States including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have been moving swiftly to release SNAP benefits to residents.

-ABC News' Steven Portnoy and Isabella Murray