The government shutdown is now the longest in United States history, surpassing the previous record set in 2019 on Tuesday evening. It has now officially been “shut down” for the 35th day.
According to a report by CBS News, the Senate failed for the 14th time to advance a House-passed continuing resolution to end the stalemate on Tuesday. The vote was 54-44, with no new Democrats crossing the aisle to advance it and end the funding lapse. Despite the outcome, lawmakers from both parties have hinted at the emerging contours of a deal to end the stalemate, possibly as early as this week. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters he thinks “there are people who realize this has gone on long enough” and “it’s time to end it.”
It appears that both sides have been using the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, otherwise known as food stamps, as leverage during the shutdown.
Some republicans also say that democrats will now be willing to concede after yesterday’s elections went largely in favor of leftists.
A federal judge has demanded that the Trump administration use available emergency funds to keep SNAP benefits going as of late last month. The White House said on Monday that it would not tap into other funds, calling it “an unacceptable risk.” However, the administration stated that it would issue reduced SNAP benefits, noting that the process to recalculate could result in significant delays, accoridng to a report by The Hill.
The White House noted that the fund only has $4.65 billion available for households, which is not enough to cover the full November benefits, expected to cost upward of $9 billion.
When White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was questioned about the court order, she responded the the Trump administration is complying. “The administration is fully complying with the court order. I just spoke to the president about it,” Leavitt said. “The recipients of these SNAP benefits need to understand it’s going to take some time to receive this money, because the Democrats have forced the administration into a very untenable position. We are digging into a contingency fund that is supposed to be for emergencies, catastrophes, for war. And the president does not want to have to tap into this fund in the future. And that’s what he was referring to in his Truth Social post.”
It all seems like it’s just political posturing from both sides; however, that’s easy to figure out if you step outside the left vs. right paradigm lie.