OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
8:41 AM – Friday, November 14, 2025
As the longest government shutdown in United States history ends, state officials are working quickly to distribute full food benefits to millions of Americans.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Thursday that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will be fully restored by Monday.
“We, immediately last night, began moving out, making sure that the program continues unabated, starting once the government reopened, and hopefully by the end of this week, most will receive it at the very latest on Monday,” Rollins said, appearing on CNN.
“Keep in mind, the SNAP program is funded by the federal government, but it is the 50 states and 50 different infrastructures that move that money out, which is what made it so complicated, the patchwork,” she noted.
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in its latest guidance to the states that full benefits are required to be distributed for November.
“State agencies must take immediate steps to ensure households receive their full November allotments promptly. The reduction in maximum allotments for November is no longer in effect. State agencies should immediately resume issuing combined allotments for November and December for newly certified applicants who apply after the 15th of the month,” the USDA wrote.
Rollins believes, as the majority of the Trump administration does, that Democrats are at fault for the lapse in food benefits.
“Fifteen different times the Democrats voted not to fund snap, 15, and this effort to put the blame on President Trump or on [the U.S. Department of Agriculture] is, from my perspective, comical,” Rollins told CNN.
“It is irrational. It is unreasonable. Again, it was a clean resolution,” she added, referring to the House-passed bill that Senate Democrats repeatedly voted against throughout the 43-day shutdown.
Congress eventually advanced a final stopgap bill on Wednesday evening, which was signed into effect by President Donald Trump on the same day. The budget bill will keep the government open through January 30th.
Eight Democrat caucus members made a deal with Republicans to open the government after over a month of demanding extended healthcare subsidies that are to expire at the end of the year. The agreement does not guarantee extended Obamacare subsidies, though Republicans agreed to vote on the issue by the end of the year.
Colorado officials said on Wednesday that they will deliver full SNAP benefits, which may be loaded onto electronic cards by Thursday.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey (R-W.Va.) said on Thursday that the state’s November benefits should be fully disbursed by Friday.
The Illinois Department of Human Services issued partial November benefits already, but also said on Thursday that it is “working to restore full SNAP benefits.”
“We anticipate that the remaining benefit payments will be made over several days, starting tomorrow,” the department said in a statement, noting that “all SNAP recipients will receive their full November benefits by November 20th.”
Missouri’s Department of Social Services issued partial SNAP payments on Tuesday, but said Thursday that it will move quickly once it receives USDA guidance on how to issue the remaining funds.
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