Republicans vote down bill to fund food programs amid shutdown

Republicans vote down bill to fund food programs amid shutdown. Mississippi lawmakers urge Gov. Tate to take action to fund benefits.

On November 1, funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will lapse without urgent action from either Congress or the Trump administration. Over 42 million Americans, including 300,000 Mississippians, rely on the program to put food on the table. Other programs such as Head Start and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) may also soon lose funding.

With the government shutdown about to reach the one-month mark, the US Department of Agriculture has refused to release $5 billion in contingency funds that could at least partially fund benefits. These contingency funds have been used during previous shutdowns, including during Trump’s first presidency. 25 Democratic-led states are suing to demand that the USDA release those funds.

Today, Senate Republicans voted down a standalone bill brought by Democrats to fund SNAP benefits during the shutdown. The Republicans instead blamed the lapse in funds on the Democrats, with Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune (SD) calling the bill “a cynical attempt to provide political cover”.

Meanwhile, Mississippi lawmakers are calling on Gov. Tate Reeves to at least partially fund benefits for the state’s SNAP recipients, as other Republican-led states have done. So far Tate has refused, adhering to the same political line as Republicans at the federal level in blaming Democrats for the lapse in funds.

Shutdown could cost US economy up to $14 billion.