Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Wednesday blasted Democrats for what he calls an "immoral" and "fundamentally un-American" attempt to use food assistance as political leverage during the government shutdown.
Yost joined Newsmax to address growing concern among the 1.4 million Ohioans who could see their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits halted as a result of the ongoing shutdown. Those benefits are set to lapse Saturday if a deal isn't reached.
"The worry is very widespread," Yost said on Newsmax's "National Report." "For 60 years, we've had a consensus in this country that we shouldn't have hunger being a driving force in people's lives in this land of plenty. Using food as a political weapon is a new low. I don't know what our country's coming to."
When asked about a lawsuit filed by blue-state attorneys general against the USDA over the potential lapse in benefits, Yost said the legal argument behind the case is weak but added that it highlights a much larger issue of misplaced priorities with the Democratic Party.
"What you just read would make a great speech on the floor of Congress," he said. "It's a little light on the law. I don't think that lawsuit is particularly well founded and probably won't survive review by a court of appeals."
Still, Yost stressed that congressional Democrats should never let hunger become a bargaining chip in negotiations.
"We've had 13 times that Democrats have passed a continuing resolution so this didn't happen. What's the difference now?" he asked. "They want to try to use it for leverage. [Senate Democrat leader] Chuck Schumer is essentially saying, 'You either give me what I want on health insurance or the kid goes hungry.' How reprehensible is that?"
Yost urged Democrats to "step back from the brink" and return to debating policy rather than punishing the vulnerable.
"Let's have our disagreements. Let's fight like heck over policy," he said. "But when it comes to using hunger as a political weapon, that's not America. It didn't even used to be the Democratic Party. It seems to be their policy now."
Yost added, "Of all of the things that we could be arguing about, it's immoral and fundamentally un-American that food is being held hostage to a political disagreement."
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