A state agency directed its SNAP benefit vendor to resume issuing full payments to recipients in Michigan on Monday, Nov. 10, providing clarity for residents depending on food assistance during the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Here’s what we know about the situation for SNAP benefits in Michigan as of Monday, Nov. 10.
Is Michigan sending out SNAP benefits?
Yes, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which administers SNAP benefits in the state, announced Nov. 10 it had directed its SNAP vendor to resume issuing full payments to recipients.
SNAP recipients in Michigan who receive their benefits on the ninth of each month should receive their full SNAP benefit allotment in the next 48 hours, according to MDHHS.
The state had paused payments after a series of court orders before the Nov. 10 announcement.
What have the courts said about SNAP?
On Sunday, Nov. 9, a U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected a request from President Donald Trump’s administration to overturn a lower court ruling to withhold SNAP funding during the government shutdown. The U.S. Supreme Court had previously allowed the White House to partially withhold benefits during a legal appeal, after Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued what’s known as an administrative stay.
The administration filed its request to the Supreme Court to allow it to freeze SNAP funding during the shutdown the morning of Nov. 10, the Associated Press reported. Jackson previously set a Nov. 11 morning deadline for the cities, nonprofit groups and others challenging the administration to respond. The court case has unfolded as a group of states, including Michigan in an amicus brief, had taken the U.S. Department of Agriculture to court in an attempt to have SNAP benefits fully funded during the shutdown. Michigan is also part of a separate lawsuit filed in Massachusetts seeking for the USDA to fully fund the SNAP program.
The SNAP program helps households across the country with grocery payments.
When did Michigan pause benefits?
The legal back and forth between the states and the Trump administration has created uncertainty over how SNAP recipients will receive benefits, which are distributed at the state level.
On Nov. 7, Michigan Attorney General said that more than 200,000 households, which normally receive benefit payments before the 8th of each month, received their SNAP distributions after a federal judge ruled benefits must be issued. But after the Supreme Court issued the administrative stay that allowed the USDA to pause SNAP allocations, pending its appeal to the high court, the funding situation for states became significantly murkier. The stay halted payments in Michigan, although MDHHS signaled they’d resume Nov. 10.
After the stay was issued, the USDA sent a memo to states Nov. 8 advising them to roll back full benefits that had been distributed before the order, and instead only distribute partial benefits. Michigan, however, is proceeding with full benefits for recipients.
“We are glad to be able to provide assistance to Michigan families to help them put food on the table,” Elizabeth Hertel, MDHHS director, said in a news release. “The uncertainty, confusion and frustration caused by the USDA’s request to block SNAP payments for the more than one million Michigan residents who rely on food assistance has been unfair, and in Michigan, we will continue to do everything we can to help those affected.”
Could the shutdown be close to ending?
Late Nov. 9, the Senate approved a procedural measure setting the chamber up for a vote on a bill that would fund the government through Jan. 30 of next year. A group of Democratic senators, which didn’t include either of Michigan’s U.S. Sens. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, or Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, voted with Senate Republicans.
As part of the underlying deal — which is still subject to another vote in the Senate, and would have to get approved by the Republican-controlled U.S. House before it could be signed into law by President Donald Trump — the USDA would be fully funded through Sept. 30, 2026.
More: Senate to vote on shutdown deal in ‘near future’ as Democrats remain divided. Live updates
The USA Today Network and Washington Correspondent Todd Spangler contributed.
Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan orders full food stamp benefits to resume
