Stand-alone bills aimed at addressing problems with the shutdown, such as expiring funding for food stamps and military benefits, continue to fail.
Duffy, authorities demand pay for workers during shutdown
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has called on Congress to pay air traffic controllers and said flight delays will only get worse during the shutdown.
WASHINGTON – The government shutdown is only getting worse, and members of Congress are starting to realize it.
That’s why the administration has begun proposing more standalone legislation that, while not fully reopening the government, would address the crisis’ biggest pain points, from looming food stamp funding shortages to widespread concerns over military pay.
Rank-and-file Republicans and Democrats seem increasingly aware that something will have to give soon.
“Many of the problems we have can be solved,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota). “There is no need to hold the remaining government officials hostage.”
“I really don’t believe that the people in the country who are losing their SNAP benefits right now, who are seeing their health insurance premiums double, triple, quadruple, are thinking about Democrats and Republicans,” said Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.. “They’re trying to find a way to make the family whole.”
Still, lawmakers have been unable to pass any legislation to ease the pressures of the government shutdown on Americans. Several measures from both sides have failed, or are expected to fail, at least until party leaders change their minds, including bills to pay federal workers and prevent safety net programs from being underfunded even as the government remains shut down.
“That’s just the wrong way to go about it,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said Tuesday. “The only way to approach this is to reopen the government.”
Vice President Vance met with Senate Republicans earlier in the day to discuss some of the closures, but the lawmakers said the discussion largely veered into dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump’s plan to increase beef imports from Argentina.
Meanwhile, the president is currently on a tour of several countries in Asia and is not scheduled to return home until Thursday.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said her agency is short of $9.2 billion in SNAP benefits to pay out in November after a coalition of 25 Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration over its plan to end the food stamp program starting Nov. 1 amid the government shutdown.
“We don’t have anything even close to that amount in our emergency fund,” Rollins said in an interview with CNN Tuesday afternoon. “We have to open this government.”
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue that the USDA is obligated to use $6 billion in emergency funds to cover SNAP for November, but Rollins argues that emergency funds cannot be used for this purpose. This position appears to be at odds with previous USDA guidance that stated the funds would be available “in the event of a lapse in the middle of a fiscal year.”
Rollins downplayed the September 30 guidance as a “repetitive document.” He also said the emergency fund is not large enough to make up for the shortfall. Rollins said that during the shutdown, the department spent money to open Farm Service Department offices and pay salaries to food inspectors and safety inspectors, while also maintaining the October SNAP program.
“The SNAP program will cost $9.2 billion in November,” Rollins said. “As of today, we do not have the legal authority to distribute anything less than that through formula or anything like that. Obviously, we are considering all of this as we move forward.”
A federal judge on Tuesday further blocked the Trump administration from implementing plans to lay off thousands of federal workers amid a nearly month-long partial government shutdown.
At a hearing in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston extended an earlier interim ruling that barred about 40 federal agencies from implementing layoffs pending the outcome of a legal challenge by unions representing federal employees.
The Trump administration said in a court filing that before Illston’s Oct. 16 ruling, about 4,100 employees at eight government agencies had been notified of their termination. White House Budget Director Russell Vought said more than 10,000 federal employees could lose their jobs due to the government shutdown.
– Reuters
Vice President J.D. Vance told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday that military members will receive their next paycheck despite the ongoing government shutdown.
“Will the military be paid on Friday? Yes,” Vance reportedly said. “We believe we can continue to pay our troops on Friday.”
But the vice president did not provide additional details about what funds the government would use to pay military personnel. The military, like millions of federal employees, has their paychecks at risk when the government shuts down.
– Marina Pitovsky
