The Shutdown – Day 28: House & Senate Democrats Provide Updates

C-SPAN: “Unacceptable … they’ve gone too far,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said during a news conference on the Trump administration’s refusal to release allocated federal dollars to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The program is set to run out of funds in early November. Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) criticized congressional Republicans and the president, saying they are using hunger and fear as a political bargaining chip. Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) also joined the news conference and called on President Trump to release the funds.

C-SPAN: Following the Senate Democratic weekly caucus lunch meeting on the 28th day of a government shutdown, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said to reporters “Just four days away from open enrollment. Now where are the Republicans? House Republicans are on week five of their vacation. Trump’s not even in the United States, and Senate Republicans are running exactly the same failed play that brought America to its knees.” The minority leader went on to announce, “Today Democrats will introduce a bill that would extend the SNAP funding and WIC to make sure no child goes hungry” and hoped it would get “passed on the floor.” When asked about the president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union recent statement saying it’s time for both parties to reopen the government, Leader Schumer replied, “we can do both. … have federal workers get paid in every way and negotiate a way to resolve the Americans paying in the health care crisis.”