How have past presidents used executive actions for SNAP emergency allotments (e.g., 2020-2023)?

1. How Congress set the stage and presidents executed relief

Congressional action provided the legal mechanism for emergency allotments: the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of March 2020 authorized states to issue supplemental SNAP benefits during the public-health emergency, and a year‑end 2022 law terminated those supplemental allotments nationwide after February 2023. The practical rollout and extensions relied on presidential administration steps—signing legislation, issuing guidance, and directing USDA implementation—rather than unilateral executive orders replacing statute. The Biden administration extended and augmented emergency allotments via guidance and benefit‑formula adjustments in 2021, while the statutory cutoff in late 2022 ended the nationwide emergency allotments that had operated most of 2020–2023 ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

2. Trump-era precedents, work‑requirement emphasis, and legal levers

The Trump administration used executive orders and regulatory emphasis to press states on work requirements and program integrity, notably through Executive Order 13828 and related USDA enforcement guidance. Those actions shifted administrative priorities and signaled how federal discretion could affect SNAP access even without changing statutory benefit formulas. During the pandemic, however, the emergency allotments themselves flowed from Congress’s pandemic law; the Trump administration’s role was procedural and enforcement‑focused rather than creating the emergency allotments through unilateral presidential authority ^{[4] [1]}.

3. Biden administration’s administrative moves to expand and stabilize benefits

The Biden administration in 2021 issued USDA guidance expanding emergency allotments and implemented a temporary 15% increase to maximum SNAP benefits via legislation and administrative recalculation of benefit formulas, producing both temporary and some lasting increases in allotments that reduced food insufficiency. These steps illustrate how an administration can amplify congressional measures through policy choices, timing, and operational guidance to states; they did not substitute for Congress but materially affected benefit levels and eligibility during 2020–2022 ^{[3] [1]}.

4. Litigation, shutdowns, and executive attempts to alter payments in 2025 — a cautionary echo

Post‑2023 events show the limits and flashpoints of executive power: in 2025 the administration attempted to direct partial SNAP payments during a federal funding crisis, prompting court fights and a temporary Supreme Court order affecting distributions. That litigation underscores how executive branches can attempt operational- or budget‑level interference, but courts and statutory frameworks constrain unilateral disruptions to SNAP funding, reinforcing that long-term changes stem from statute and appropriations rather than ephemeral executive directives ^{[5] [6] [7]}.

5. The big picture: statutes set benefits, administrations shape delivery

Between 2020 and 2023, the pattern is clear: Congress authorized emergency allotments; presidents and their agencies implemented, extended, and adjusted them through guidance, benefit formulas, and enforcement priorities; and subsequent congressional action ended the nationwide emergency allotments. Administrative actions mattered for who received what and when, and for work‑requirement enforcement targeting able‑bodied adults without dependents, but they operated within statutory confines. The December 2022 Congressional decision to terminate allotments demonstrates that durable changes to SNAP benefit levels require legislative action, even as administrations can significantly influence program operation and access ^{[2] [3] [1]}.