Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Department of Human Services Sec. Dr. Val Arkoosh announced that Pennsylvanians who rely on SNAP will get their benefits.
Friday’s press conference follows after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to find the money to fully fund SNAP benefits for November, a decision that the administration promptly appealed.
Gov. Shapiro lashed out at the Trump Administration for making the appeal.
“Folks gotta wake up and realize that people who are leading in America quite literally want to keep people hungry. And, you’ll excuse me for getting emotional about it, but when I see hungry people in my state who are hungry because J.D. Vance’s bull**** politics, that makes me angry,” Shapiro said at Friday’s event.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. was in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65% of the maximum benefit. The government said it will rely on $4.65 billion on emergency funding.
“The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund SNAP,” McConnell said. “They knew that there would be a long delay in paying partial Snap payments and failed to consider the harms individual who rely on those benefits would suffer.”
The Trump administration said last month that it would not pay benefits at all for November because of the federal shutdown. Last week, two judges ordered the government to pay at least partial benefits using an emergency fund. It initially said it would cover half, but it now says it will cover 65%.
The plaintiffs want the benefits to be fully funded.
Recipients of SNAP in the local area include 2 million people in Pennsylvania, 800,000 people in New Jersey and 100,000 people in Delaware.
According to the Shapiro Administration, November 2025 SNAP benefits started to get sent to recipients as early as Friday morning and they will continue to be loaded onto EBT cards over the next few days.
All three states are now in a state of emergency and are assisting in filling the funding gap amid the government shutdown, which began Oct. 1 and appears to have no end in sight.
To check your SNAP balance, click here.
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