The Trump administration is ordering US states to stop paying full food aid benefits to low-income American families, saying they are “unauthorized”.

A memo from the US Department of Agriculture, which runs the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), said states can deliver just 65% of benefits after the Supreme Court allowed the administration to withhold some funding pending further legal hearings.

More than 42 million Americans who rely on the food aid began receiving only partial benefits this month due to the ongoing the US government shutdown.

Some states had been using their own emergency coffers to top up recipient benefits.

“States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” the USDA said in its Saturday memo.

It’s the administration’s latest move in the funding battle over Snap, also known as food stamps, as the longest government shutdown in US history drags on.

The Snap programme is used by around one in eight Americans and costs almost $9bn (£6.9bn) a month.

The legal saga was spurred after the USDA announced benefits would be halted in November due to the lack of funding over the shutdown.

The White House appealed to the country’s highest court after a lower court ruled that Snap benefits should be paid out in full to recipients.

On Friday, the Supreme Court issued an emergency order temporarily allowing the Trump administration to temporarily withhold $4bn (£3.04bn) of funding for the benefits.