Millions of parents who fail to pay child support may lose access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, commonly known as food stamps, after the US Department of Agriculture reversed a Biden administration rule. The move reinstates a policy from the first Trump administration and could result in an annual saving of over $8 billion for taxpayers.

The Biden-era guidance, issued in June 2024, had discouraged states from using child support delinquency as a reason to disqualify individuals from SNAP. As of the following year, only Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi had implemented such restrictions, according to a USDA report.

However, a July 20 memo from the USDA rescinded this guidance, allowing states to resume denying benefits to parents without primary custody who are not meeting their child support obligations. Alex Adams, assistant secretary for family support at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, stated that the policy is intended to encourage parents to fulfill their legal and moral responsibilities to their children, rather than penalize those who cannot afford payments.

SNAP benefits currently serve approximately 42 million Americans. Of these, about 3.8 million are parents with formal child support orders. The average monthly SNAP benefit is $190.29 per person, totaling over $723 million per month or nearly $8.7 billion annually spent on parents with child support obligations.

According to Adams, the previous administration had moved away from enforcement, even renaming the HHS office from Child Support Enforcement to Child Support Services. He expressed hope that states will adopt this policy as a tool to improve child support collection.

The original rule from the first Trump administration in May 2019 stipulated that state agencies would determine if a non-custodial parent's non-cooperation with child support requirements constituted a refusal or unwillingness to cooperate, as opposed to an inability to do so. Parents determined to have refused cooperation were deemed ineligible, with no provision for establishing good cause.

In parallel actions, the Department of Health and Human Services has also been revoking passports for parents delinquent on child support payments. Over 10,170 passports have been revoked since January 2025. This measure has reportedly led to $2.2 million in payments from parents seeking to avoid passport revocation.