Some Texans Finally Receive Partial SNAP Payments

By Lindsey Byman and Jess Huff, The Texas Tribune
November 10, 2025

AUSTIN, TX - Some Texans started receiving SNAP benefits on Monday after food assistance payments for November were delayed for more than a week as a result of the federal government shutdown.

“SNAP clients who usually get their benefits between the 1st and 10th of the month will see partial benefits on their Lone Star Cards Nov. 10,” Tiffany Young of Texas Health and Human Services Commission said in an email. “For SNAP clients who receive benefits on or after the 11th of the month, partial benefits will be issued on their normal issuance date.”

For some Texas enrollees, payments appear to have reached 65% of a typical month’s allotment from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, said Justin King of Propel, an app that helps SNAP enrollees manage their benefits and has access to electronic benefits transfer (EBT) data from about one in eight Texas households enrolled in SNAP. About 3.5 million Texans are on SNAP, 1.7 million of them children.

Other enrollees have gotten as little as $16 for two people or no payments at all, according to a chart from Propel that uses EBT data from lower 48 states and the District of Columbia.

On the first of the month, Sarah Jones of Liberty County typically gets around $700 on the Lone Star Card that she uses to purchase groceries, but the mother of two teens said Monday morning she has yet to receive a payment. She and her neighbors set up a small food bank on her road and are compiling resources so everyone gets fed through the holidays.

Jones was among multiple SNAP recipients who shared their experiences preparing for the benefits cliff this month with The Texas Tribune. Amber Harrington in Onalaska said Monday morning she has received $63 of the $338 she typically receives at the start of the month.

Typically, about 716,000 Texans typically would have received SNAP payments by the 10th of the month, according to Propel. SNAP recipients have had to stretch their food budgets and make plans to adapt. The state’s food banks have called for help and cited runs on their supplies.

HHSC on Monday did not say how many households statewide have received November benefits or how much enrollees can expect to see loaded onto the Lone Star Cards that they use to purchase groceries. When asked what guidance HHSC is following to issue payments, Young sent a memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that ordered states to issue partial benefits, calculated based on household size and income, and to undo any work to distribute full payments.

This USDA decision followed several court decisions going back-and-forth on whether SNAP enrollees would receive benefits during the shutdown.

The shutdown began on Oct. 1, cutting off funding for federal programs including SNAP. Democrats have repeatedly voted against the annual budget bill over it not extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire at year’s end, while Republicans refuse to negotiate until after the government reopens. The shutdown is now the longest in the country’s history.

The USDA had announced that it would halt the program in November due to insufficient funding during the shutdown, despite a prior plan from the agency saying SNAP should keep running during a pause in appropriations.

In late October, a group of Democratic state leaders and a coalition of cities, religious groups and nonprofits brought separate lawsuits against the Trump administration over its refusal to fund SNAP during the shutdown. They argued the administration should use emergency funds to keep funding the program, which serves 42 million Americans.

Eventually, the Trump administration agreed to tap a $4.65 billion emergency account to provide partial November SNAP payments.

Democratic and Republican state leaders ponied up state funding to cope with the freeze in all but 12 states, including Texas, putting mounting pressure on Gov. Greg Abbott to intervene.

Congress on Sunday took steps on a plan to reopen the federal government, which could mean relief for SNAP recipients in the coming days.

Jeff Huff contributed reporting.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.