This story was originally published on 11/5, and was updated with additional information on the USDA’s revised 65% partial benefits plan on 11/6.
In the latest chapter of this unprecedented SNAP shutdown, the Trump administration has announced a plan to issue 65% partial benefits for the month of November. But it’s not as clear-cut as it sounds, and many Iowans could see their benefits drastically reduced in November – or receive no partial benefits at all.
Last Friday, October 31, two federal judges ruled that the Trump administration must use SNAP contingency funds to pay partial benefits for the month of November. On Monday, November 3, USDA Deputy Under Secretary of Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) Patrick Penn submitted a sworn declaration to the court, outlining the administration’s plan to respond to the court’s order.
In addition to providing the Trump administration’s legal argument as to why the administration does not have the authority to transfer funds from other USDA nutrition programs (debatable), USDA provided the following plans for issuing partial SNAP benefits for November:
- After obligating $450 million from the contingency fund for state administrative expenses, USDA will have “a total of $4.65 billion in the contingency fund for November SNAP benefits that will all be obligated to cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments.”
- “Given the variation among State systems, some of which are decades old, it is unclear how many States will complete the changes in an automated manner with minimal disruption versus manual overrides or computations that could lead to payment errors and significant delays.”
- “For at least some States, USDA’s understanding is that the system changes States must implement to provide the reduced benefit amounts will take anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months.”
On Tuesday, November 4, USDA FNS issued additional guidance to state agencies, along with a benefit issuance reduction table for the adjusted 50% maximum benefits. Unfortunately, this memo left state agencies and SNAP recipients with far more questions than answers. It also became clear that because of the way the changes were being applied, USDA would not use all of its contingency funding issuing 50% benefits.
The next evening, USDA put out revised guidance and an updated benefit issuance reduction table for 65% maximum benefits.
In the guidance to states, USDA FNS provided instructions for calculating households’ reduced SNAP benefits:
“the amount of benefits shall be calculated by reducing the maximum SNAP allotment amount to 65 percent for the applicant’s household size and then deducting 30 percent of the household’s net income from the reduced maximum SNAP allotment amount.”
What does this mean in practical terms?
- Only households who were already receiving the maximum SNAP benefit will receive 65% of their typical benefits for the month.
- All other households will receive less than 65% of their typical benefits for the month.
- Some households will receive nothing*.
- *Note: otherwise eligible households with only 1 or 2 members can qualify for a minimum benefit of $16, even if their calculated benefit amount is $0.
For example:
- A single person who previously received $155 in monthly benefits will now receive $50.
- A family of five who typically receives $597 in SNAP benefits will receive $183.
- A three-person household who usually gets $275 per month will receive no partial benefits for the month of November.
Calculator: Estimate November Partial SNAP Benefits
Disclaimer: this is only meant to provide an estimate. Please wait for final confirmation from Iowa HHS on your households’ partial benefits for November.
This calculator can also be accessed at iowahungercoalition.org/shutdown-calculator.
More Questions than Answers
The Trump administration’s response leaves state agencies, advocates, and SNAP participants with more questions than answers. To make things more confusing and uncertain, President Trump issued a Truth Social post on Tuesday seeming to defy the court order and contradicting the plan his own USDA sent to states just hours earlier.
Some quick fact-checking: no, SNAP benefits were not “haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking.” The suggestion is insulting. Anyone who has had to navigate the SNAP application and recertification process can attest to how hard it is to get SNAP benefits.
And for the record, SNAP enrollment in Iowa decreased by 8.7% over the course of the Biden administration (287,156 individuals in January 2021 vs. 262,104 individuals in December 2024).
So at this point, it’s unclear if USDA FNS will even stick to its own plan that it issued to states yesterday. But assuming it does, there are still a number of questions remaining:
- How long will it take for Iowa HHS to adjust benefit amounts for each one of the 131,000 SNAP households in the state, and how quickly will partial benefits be issued onto Iowans’ EBT cards?
- Will Iowans ever receive their full SNAP benefit amounts for November once the federal government re-opens?
How much of USDA’s $4.65 billion in contingency funding will actually be spent, given that not all participants will receive the full 50% partial benefit?- How might this impact SNAP payment error rates in Iowa and any potential benefit cost-sharing due to new provisions from H.R. 1?
One thing is clear: we are in truly unprecedented times.