Now That the Government Has Reopened, When Can SNAP Recipients Expect to Get Paid?

Funding for federal food assistance programs has been restored with the end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, promising relief for millions of Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) after weeks of chaos and worry.  It’s not yet entirely clear when that relief will come, however. Benefits for November—which have been the subject of a contentious legal and political battle—will officially be restored in full under the spending bill President Donald Trump signed Wednesday night, but the exact timeline on when recipients will receive payments may vary on a state-by-state basis.  A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) spokesperson told TIME that most states will receive SNAP funding within 24 hours of the government reopening.  The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), an organization that advocates for policies to address poverty-related hunger and is tracking state efforts to restore SNAP funding, said people could receive benefits in anywhere from a few days to a week. At least 19 states and the District of Columbia have already given out full payments for November to some recipients following a federal court order that mandated the Trump Administration to fully fund the benefits program, before that ruling was blocked by the Supreme Court. Others have issued partial benefits. Read More: ‘I Feel Powerless’: The Shutdown Showed Just How Precarious Life On Food Stamps Really Is The lingering questions and variation between states comes after weeks of uncertainty surrounding the program’s funding, which has caused mass confusion across the country and forced millions of SNAP recipients to confront impossible choices. Copper Wiley, a 43-year-old Californian, said that without SNAP, he and his family “would starve.” The Marin County resident has been on-and-off food stamps for about a decade, citing the need for government help due to health problems and complications maintaining (and providing paperwork to prove) employment.  “The services in Marin, one of the richest counties, in one of the richest states, are so deeply underfunded and fragmented that my second job, outside of trying to find a job that will accommodate my medical needs, is trying to find aid,” Wiley told TIME in an emailed statement. “That’s a disgrace. I get 300 dollars a month, which is the maximum for the state, and that covers a few trips to the store if you’re shopping healthy, and about double to triple that if you’re just trying to stock up on what keeps you physically going.” Wiley has received SNAP funds for the month of November.   In late September, the USDA said in a plan for its shutdown operations—which was later deleted—that a contingency fund would provide continued funding for SNAP benefits if the government remained shuttered past October. But the following month, the department stated that it couldn’t tap into the contingency fund and it would not pay SNAP benefits for November.  An escalating legal battle ensued, resulting in two separate federal judges ruling on the eve of the planned benefits cut off that the Trump Administration was required to use the contingency fund for November SNAP payments. After the Administration said it would pay out benefits in part with the fund, one of the judges ruled that it must fully fund the program. USDA responded to the order by saying it was working to comply, though the Administration also quickly appealed and later reversed course after the Supreme Court a day later issued an administrative stay on the lower court ruling, leaving funds in many states in limbo. Under the new spending bill, funding for the federal government, including food stamps, is now set to continue at its previous levels through Jan. 30.  SNAP is also undergoing notable changes under Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which slashed the program’s budget and expanded work requirements, among other new restrictions. States where error rates in dispersing food stamps are above a certain level will also soon be responsible for a portion of benefit costs.