Senate Majority Leader John Thune erupted on the Senate floor Thursday after Democrats blocked yet another attempt to pass a clean funding bill to reopen the federal government.
Senate Democrats refused another attempt to reopen the government earlier today, leaving more than 40 million Americans at risk of losing food aid as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding is set to lapse Nov. 1. Thune said Senate Democrats are prolonging the standoff to preserve political leverage and tie budget negotiations to unrelated programs.
“And we’ve tried to do that 13 times. You [Democrats] 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, 29 days in that, oh, there might be some consequences. The people run out of money,” Thune added. “Yeah, we’re 29 days in, and they’ve done their best to make sure that a lot of these programs are funded, but, at some point, the government runs out of money.”
Thune slammed Democrats for deliberately prolonging the government shutdown.
“Thirteen times, people over here voted to fund SNAP. Thirteen times they voted to fund WIC. My aching back! Finally realized this thing has consequences. Well, you know what? What Democrats are doing here, they’re making plans to keep the shutdown going,” Thune added.
Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy previously said Democrats are demanding the return of millions in foreign project funding before they agree to reopen the government, calling it proof that their priorities lie anywhere but with the American people.
More than two dozen states have warned they will stop distributing food aid if Congress fails to reach a deal before Nov. 1. Despite the looming cutoff, Senate Democrats have repeatedly blocked Republican proposals to reopen the government, insisting on a package that includes Obamacare subsidies and other party priorities.
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