As the government shutdown enters its fifth week, the second longest shutdown in US history, the US Department of Agriculture suspended (USDA) the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides food assistance to roughly 40 million American, over 12% of the nation’s population, and it reports it doesn’t have the money to fund November benefits. A coalition of Democratic attorney generals and governors in 25 states have sued the USDA, seeking a temporary restraining order that would require it to distribute SNAP benefits.
While voices on the left called for the restoration of SNAP benefits, so did several congresspeople on the right. Some blamed both sides of congress for failing to serve the American people.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) (Lean Right bias) wrote in the New York Times Opinion (Left), “Surely it is not hard to understand why SNAP is so essential to so many. The American economy has not been kind to working people in recent years. What cost $100 five years ago costs $125 today. So if you’re not earning 25 percent more than you were five years ago, you’re getting poorer. That’s most families in America. And nowhere do they feel it more than at the grocery store. But nobody in America, this richest of nations, should go to bed hungry, and certainly no child.” He filed legislation this week to continue to fund food stamps during the shutdown, gaining support from a half dozen Republican colleagues. The Democrats have put forth a competing bill to fund SNAP.
A piece in HuffPost (Left) said, “While millions of people are left wondering if they’re going to put food on the table next month, Republican lawmakers are using the impending calamity as an opportunity to score political points…But if Republicans suddenly care about food assistance for low-income families, they sure have a funny way of showing it. Donald Trump’s big signature megabill included massive cuts to government benefits, including SNAP — and nearly every Republican, including Thompson and Hawley, voted for it.”
The editorial staff at the Post and Courier (Lean Right) wrote, “A Congress that is willing to let millions of Americans go hungry so its members can score partisan points is less than worthless…Depending on how long the Congress refuses to do its job, the task could overwhelm our generosity and the Legislature would need to reconvene to provide state funding to help feed our neighbors. For now, though, we all need to step up and help by writing checks, donating food, volunteering at food banks and soup kitchens or giving direct aid to people we know who are in need. And we all need to recall this astounding failure of moral clarity when we vote in the next elections for the U.S. House and Senate.”
An MSNBC (Left) columnist wrote, “What's concerning at the moment is that the Trump administration is declining to publicly outline any clear agenda to tap into contingency funds or transfer funds from other nutrition assistance programs for SNAP. That could be part of a political strategy to make the situation look as daunting as possible so as to apply more pressure to Democrats to see if they flinch; Democrats are supposed to be champions of assistance to the poor — maybe they’ll back down out of fear of looking like they’re reneging on their principles.”
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