Nearly 42 million Americans receiving food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP will lose those benefits tomorrow if Congress can’t agree on how to keep the program going or reopen the government.
Overnight, President Trump called on Republicans in Congress to change the rules in the Senate to again open the government with a simple majority vote instead of the 60 votes currently needed – the so-called “Nuclear Option.”
Trump posted on Truth Social: ….BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAVE GONE STONE COLD “CRAZY,” THE CHOICE IS CLEAR — INITIATE THE “NUCLEAR OPTION,” GET RID OF THE FILIBUSTER AND, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Conservatives have long opposed getting rid of the filibuster because they believe it could open the door to bad legislation in the future, and Republicans don’t seem to have the votes to do it anyway.
Almost 1.4 million federal workers have already gone without pay, and more than 750,000 are on furlough.
Air traffic controllers are going on their sixth unpaid week, and that could lead to massive travel disruptions.
Meanwhile, food banks across the country have scaled up efforts to help those in critical need of food assistance.
John Sillars, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank in Louisiana, said, “We are treating this just like a hurricane, where we are going to step in. It will be a challenge, but we are up to the task, as we have been before.”
And 27 states have announced they will step up to provide some level of funding for SNAP benefits and food pantries.
On Capitol Hill, the Democratic push to extend Obamacare subsidies is still the major sticking point behind the government shutdown, putting other programs like SNAP at risk.
Some Democrats say other money can be used to fund SNAP. But Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “Some of the Democrats have argued that you can use this contingency fund, but the truth is, there’s no legal mechanism to do it.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the Democrats holding out over health care is not a partisan issue, but a moral issue.
“Republicans have the nerve to admit before the American people that ripping away SNAP benefits from 16 million children in this country and more than a million veterans is a pressure tactic designed to get Congress to continue to gut the health care of the American people,” Jeffries said.
Vice President JD Vance responded, “We’re happy to talk about health care policy. We’re happy to talk about tax policy. We’re happy to talk about regulatory policy, but not at the point of a gun. You do not get to take the American people’s government hostage and then demand that we give you everything you want in order to pay our air traffic controllers.”
And Vance has pleaded for what he called “five reasonable Democrats” to step up and help Republicans stop the shutdown.
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