Senate Democrats Cling To Shutdown As 40 Million Americans Face Food Aid Lapse

Senate Democrats are sticking with their shutdown strategy despite the prospect of more than 40 million Americans losing access to federal food aid due to the funding lapse.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps feed roughly 42 million Americans, is slated to experience a funding lapse for the first time in history beginning Nov. 1. Though Democrats have said they want to avert a freeze on the food stamp program, Republicans have excoriated Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his caucus for refusing to reopen the government and prevent SNAP from going unfunded.

“SNAP recipients shouldn’t go without food. People should be getting paid in this country,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said during a fiery speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday. “We’ve tried to do that 13 times. You voted ‘no’ 13 times. This isn’t a political game. These are real people’s lives that we’re talking about — and you all have just figured out that 29 days in that ‘oh there might be some consequences.’”

The majority leader blocked standalone legislation from Democratic New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Lújan to temporarily cover SNAP funding on Wednesday afternoon. Thune argued the measure was a “cynical attempt to buy political cover” for Democrats to continue the shutdown without having a major pain point on the horizon.

Democrats, however, have sought to blame Republicans for the looming SNAP benefit freeze despite voting against reopening the government on 13 separate occasions.

“The bottom line is they can fund it just as in 2019, just as in other shutdowns, for a long period of time,” Schumer told the DCNF during a press conference on Wednesday. “If they have all this money for Argentina and all this money for other things, they have enough money to keep funding SNAP — and they know it.”

Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff similarly told the DCNF on Wednesday that President Donald Trump has the authority to unilaterally fund the program until Congress approves new appropriations.