WASHINGTON — Cuts to food stamp benefits for low-income Americans may be far steeper this month than expected, and millions could receive nothing at all, according to a new analysis.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning research and policy institute, analyzed the partial SNAP benefits payment plan sent Tuesday by the Trump administration to states. It found the roughly 40 percent of households that get the maximum level of food stamp benefits will see payments cut by about half.
But those with some income – whether from social security, disability or employment – will lose a larger share. Some 1-to-2 person households will get just $12, the center found, and as many as 1.2 million households will receive $0.
"Almost 5 million people will receive no benefits at all," said Katie Bergh, a food policy analyst with the center.
CBPP also estimates under the partial spending formula the U.S. Department of Agriculture will only end up spending about $3 billion of its contingency fund – not the full $4.65 billion that two judges said must be used to keep SNAP entitlements flowing.
"They're, in essence, shortchanging families," Bergh said. "They have funding, but they've set up a benefit reduction scheme that means that they will not spend all of it."
The USDA did not respond immediately to NPR's request for comment about the center's analysis.
A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the administration to restart the country's largest anti-hunger program after funding lapsed last Saturday, a month into the government shutdown. USDA rejected the suggestion by that judge, and another federal judge in Boston, that it tap a larger pot of money to fully cover SNAP payments. Instead, it chose to use only a smaller contingency fund that could cover only about half of the program's monthly cost.
Implementing the administration's complex partial funding formula presents enormous procedural challenges for states, which administer the program that serves 42 million Americans. The USDA itself warned it could take weeks or even months to get the benefits to people.
"It requires a complete recalculation and a complete recoding of our system," said Tikki Brown, the head of Minnesota's Department of Children, Youth and Families. She said there is no timeline yet for payments in her state.
Danny Mintz, who works for the safety net access group, Code for America, said some states have antiquated systems from the 1970s that make it difficult to quickly implement sweeping calculation changes.
"There are legitimate concerns that altering the calculations of benefits may break things," he said. "The quickest way for states to get benefits into people's hands is for USDA to fund the full amount of SNAP benefits."
Some states already are warning it could be weeks before payments can be made.
In a bluntly worded letter to USDA – seen by NPR member station WESA – Pennsylvania Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh said the federal government is "directing states to use the most complex and labor-intensive approach possible."
Pennsylvania is asking to use a simpler, faster method that was allowed for pandemic-related aid, and would essentially give everyone half their SNAP payment.
The prospect of delays and missed payments has brought a group of cities and nonprofits back to federal court in Rhode Island, to force the Trump administration to comply with an order to restart SNAP aid "expeditiously."
Copyright 2025 NPR
