Senate GOP divided as millions risk losing food aid in shutdown standoff
Senate Republicans are mulling a handful of bills to meet funding shortfalls as the shutdown drags on, but one that would prevent funding for federal benefits from lapsing may not...
By Fox News · Fox News
Senate Republicans are mulling a handful of bills to meet funding shortfalls as the shutdown drags on, but one that would prevent funding for federal benefits from lapsing may not get a shot on the floor. Sen. Josh Hawley , R-Mo., is pushing a bill that would extend funding for food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), until the government reopens and regular government funding continues. His legislation comes after the Trump administration announced over the weekend the funding for the program would run dry on Saturday, and that they would reshuffle funding from an emergency contingency fund to keep the program afloat. SCHUMER AGAIN BLOCKS GOP BID TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT AS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS GO UNPAID It’s one of a handful of bills pushed by Republicans to try and ease the pain of the ongoing shutdown. Others include efforts to pay certain federal workers, the military, and air traffic controllers, who missed their first full paycheck on Tuesday. Hawley stressed that he would like a vote on the bill, but that it is so far being blocked from reaching the floor. He believed the legislation, which has 10 Republican co-sponsors and one Democratic co-sponsor, would pass if it hit the floor. "My strong encouragement is we don’t need to allow 42 million people to go hungry," he said. But Senate Republican leadership and the White House want to exert pressure on Senate Democrats to reopen the government, and using the piecemeal "rifle shot" strategy could get in the way of that. SCHUMER AGAIN BLOCKS GOP BID TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT AS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS GO UNPAID Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., took a firm position against the rifle-shot approach after a closed-door lunch with the Senate GOP and Vice President JD Vance. "This piecemeal approach, where you do one-off here, one-off there, to make it seem, you know, more politically palatable to somebody or less painful. That's just a wrong way to do this," Thune said. "There'…