US officials demanded Sunday that states “undo” full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits that were paid out last week under court orders.

Patrick Penn, deputy under secretary of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), released a memorandum that called for states to “immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” as any payments  made were “unauthorized.”

The demand followed the US Supreme Court’s temporary stay of a lower court order. Last week, the court froze a Rhode Island court order that directed the administration to fund SNAP through November. Because of the Supreme Court stay, the USDA claimed that states may not transmit full SNAP benefits. Instead, states should only disburse the 35 percent reduced amount approved and detailed in its November 5th guidance.

The USDA warned against noncompliance, stating that states may be held liable for over-issuances or may face federal budget cuts. However, nearly two dozen states have stated that they will face severe operational dysfunction if the federal government does not reimburse them for SNAP benefits, which were authorized before the Supreme Court’s stay.

“Massachusetts residents with funds on their cards should continue to spend it on food … President Trump should be focusing on reopening the government that he controls instead of repeatedly fighting to take away food from American families, ” Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy said, adding that if Trump attempts to take back the SNAP benefits, “we will see him in court.”

Over the past week, states have received four separate directives regarding SNAP distribution, sowing confusion among state agencies. Many states had already issued full November benefits, but Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Friday order allows the administration to block full benefit disbursement until an appellate court can hear the case.