Democrats in the Michigan House of Representatives want to use state funding to maintain food assistance benefits slated to come to a halt amid the federal government shutdown.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service recently directed the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to pause Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) starting in November. Michigan receives on average $260 million a month from the federal government for the nearly 1.4 million people in the state who receive SNAP benefits, according to State Budget Office Director of Communications Lauren Leeds.

President Donald Trump's administration has argued that the USDA cannot use contingency funds to pay for SNAP during the federal government shutdown, which recently entered its

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