Ben Molin • Updated November 13th 2025 at 2:30pm ET
The federal government was shut down at the start of October due to stalled negotiations on the funding bill that funds the federal government. A funding bill was passed on November 13th, so the shutdown is now over.
The shutdown is now over with SNAP benefits funded in full being part of the funding deal, so full November benefits should be expected. Timeline of benefit issuance will depend on your state.
States will likely be working quickly to ensure everyone has received their full November benefit if they haven't already. It's unlikely that there will be any additional major updates that affect all states.
Given that some states paid partial benefits, others full, others state-funded benefits, others none, as well as that every state likely has their own timeline with their EBT payment processor, there will be some variation between states in how many days it takes to receive your EBT deposit. Your state's SNAP website may have additional information. You can find your state's website here.
October 31st: A federal judge ruled on that the USDA must use their contingency fund to at least partially fund SNAP benefits. The contingency fund has $5 billion in it, which wouldn't fully cover the $8 billion total November benefits, but would likely cover some. This ruling comes after 26 states filed legal action to use the contingency fund on October 28th. Read More from Washington State's Attorney General.
November 3rd: After the ruling, the Trump administration agreed to use the contingency funds, however will only pay 50% of a households November benefit (later update: it's not exactly half). In terms of timeline, an official statement said that it will take "several weeks to execute partial payments"
November 4th: However, then Trump posted that SNAP will only be given when the government is reopened. But then later that day, the White House press secratary said they would fully comply with the court order.
November 5th: The USDA released the plan for calculating how much each household will get. It's not just 50% reduction, but a more complicated calculation. See this Google Sheet with our current understanding of reduced November benefit amounts. Some households will receive $0 with the partial benefit calculations. This re-calculation of all benefit amounts is complicated, and seems that it may take some states some time to implement partial payments in their EBT systems.
November 6th & 7th: A judge ruled that the Trump administration must fully fund SNAP benefits by November 7th and some states started moving forward with full payments. However, the Trump administration has appealed this decision. Some states have already made the partial payments (e.g. North Carolina).
November 7th 9pm: After the Trump administration appealed the ruling to issue full SNAP benefits, the Supreme Court granted the appeal, so at this time full SNAP benefits are back on hold. However, some states already paid out full benefits before the Supreme Court ruling.
November 8th: The next court ruling for full benefits is still pending, and the USDA issued guidance asking states to "undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025." It's likely that no more states will be issuing fully-funded benefits using federal funds if they haven't done so already until further decisions are made.
November 13th: The shutdown is over, with SNAP benefits funded in full being a key aspect of the funding deal.
If you need immediate food assistance, use Feeding America's Find Your Local Food Bank tool
