As US government enters week four of shutdown, millions of low income families could lose food assistance
As US government enters week four of shutdown, millions of low income families could lose food assistance
As US government enters week four of shutdown, millions of low income families could lose food assistance : Peoples Dispatch
cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/6522631
cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/3745
Several states have warned that if the shutdown continues until November, they will be forced to suspend SNAP and WIC benefits, threatening food assistance for millions
Roughly 1.4 million federal workers have either been furloughed and are working without pay as the US enters day 23 of the government shutdown. Washington, DC food banks and religious groups are organizing food distribution for those workers, some of whom are willing to wait for hours on line for groceries amid the crisis.
The shutdown began on October 1, stemming from a standoff between Democratic and Republican lawmakers over upcoming cuts to public healthcare within the Republican Party’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”. It is now on track to be among the longest government shutdowns in US history.
The Democrats contended that the Republican budget bill will undermine essential programs such as Medicaid – the nation’s largest public health insurance program, which provides coverage to over 70 million people. Democratic lawmakers insisted that safeguards for these programs be included in a short-term spending measure, and when Republicans refused, Congress failed to pass a funding bill to avert a government shutdown.
The Trump administration has placed the blame of the shutdown on Democratic lawmakers, labeling it as the “Democrat shutdown”. “TOP DEMOCRATS CHEER OVER Americans’ pain, weaponizing suffering in their twisted political power grab,” the White House wrote on X.
However, the reality is often not as the White House paints it. Since the shutdown began, Trump has instructed the Office of Management and Budget to eliminate 4,000 jobs across eight federal agencies, although a federal judge’s order halted a wave of layoffs. Amid the shutdown, the administration has cancelled or frozen nearly USD 28 billion primarily located in Democratic-led cities, congressional districts, and states. On the first day of the shutdown, Trump froze USD 18 billion in federal funds to projects in New York City alone.
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