Schumer Demands GOP Put SNAP-Only Bill to Vote

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday said Republicans should put a bill that fully funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program up for a vote days before the current funding is set to run out due to the government shutdown, the New York Post reported.

The Keep SNAP Funded Act, introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., last week, already has 10 GOP senators and Democrat Peter Welch of Vermont as co-sponsors, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has resisted requests for smaller, separate spending bills after the Schumer-led Democrats voted 13 times to keep the government shut down since the beginning of this month.

Schumer said in a floor speech before affirming he and other Democrats would vote for Hawley's bill that "just weeks ago, Trump's own U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed in writing that contingency funds — about $6 billion in emergency reserves — were 'available to fund participant benefits.'

"Then suddenly after USDA said it, Trump ordered the Department of Agriculture to rip up the contingency plan, literally delete it from their website, and told them not to use emergency funds."

The Democrat leader continued that "no explanation, no justification, just plain cruelty from a man who only serves himself — Donald Trump is picking politics over the lives of hungry kids. He is weaponizing hunger, turning millions of children, seniors, and veterans into political pawns to score points in his shutdown fight."

According to the USDA, at least $23 billion has been set aside to keep nutrition programs running during the shutdown, but the Trump administration has said it lacks the legal authority to use any extra contingency funding for regular monthly SNAP benefits, which Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said would total $9.2 billion just in November, the Post reported.

"We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats," a USDA spokesperson said. "Continue to hold out for the far-left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC [Women, Infants and Children] and SNAP allotments."

Asked on Wednesday about the Hawley bill, Thune said scheduling votes for "one-off" bills on SNAP or other federal benefits "begs the larger question: How long ... is this going to drag on?"

The Republican leader added, "I think the quickest way to end it is to just open everything up, and then everybody gets paid, and you're not picking winners and losers or having to explain to this group why you open it up for this group. I mean, that just doesn't make any sense to me."

Democrats have committed to the funding fight in hopes of getting an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies passed under former President Joe Biden, though congressional Republican leaders have said that will be addressed in a separate bill before the end of the year once the shutdown is over.

• GOP Blocks SNAP Bill, Benefits at Risk
• CBO: Shutdown to Shave Up to $14B From US Economy