Benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are drying up this weekend as Democrats have voted to keep the government shut down 14 times, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said during Friday’s press conference on day 31 of the shutdown.
If there was anything that could be done to keep the program up and running, Johnson said, President Donald Trump would have made it happen. But because of the Democrats’ decision to use Americans as political leverage, SNAP benefits will not be distributed.
“If there was any way to fund snap during the Democrat shutdown, you can be assured that your commander-in-chief would do it, but we are now reaching a breaking point,” Johnson said.
“Thanks to Democrats voting ‘no’ on government funding now 14 different times, SNAP benefits for millions of American families are drying up. It’s about one in eight people in this country who rely upon this to literally put food on their table,” he explained.
An update on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website reads in part:
Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.
Johnson said all the blame rests on Democrat senators, as they are the ones who “locked arms and decided over and over and over and over —14 times now — to vote against these services being provided,” Johnson continued, reminding listeners that this affects real people and real families.
“When those resources dry up, they rely upon that, and yet, the Democrats continue with their political games in Washington while people are sitting around the dinner table without the resources that they need,” he said, adding that the Trump administration has “done all it can to keep this program afloat.”
“But the limits have been reached here. And what are the Democrats doing today? Where are the Democrats? Are they in the Senate today? No, they’re out campaigning while critical SNAP benefits run dry,” the Speaker said, noting that Democrats have “skipped town” and “abandoned their post in the Senate.”
“And the reason that’s so important and noteworthy for the American people is the Senate is the only place where this can end. The last hope of reopening the government before millions of Americans go hungry, they’ve abandoned their post,” he said.
What is most shocking is the fact that Democrats are somehow trying to blame this on Republicans, despite the fact that they have offered a clean continuing resolution (CR) over and over, he continued.
“They’re now trying to somehow blame Republicans for cutting off SNAP when Republicans — remember the ones who voted 14 times for the SNAP benefits to flow — it’s the Democrats who voted every single time to turn that off. The same Democrats who’ve been perfectly fine with defunding SNAP and WIC for over a month now are suddenly claiming to be outraged that Republicans and President Trump can’t just wave some magic wand and fix the mess that they themselves have created,” Johnson said, reminding them that there is, in fact, a simple way to fix it: Go back to Washington, DC, and vote to reopen the government.
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