Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
President Donald Trump said that he believes Republicans will solve how to fund food stamps, when he was asked about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the government shutdown.
SNAP is slated to expire by Nov. 1, potentially ending benefits for millions of people across the United States.
“We’re going to get it done,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Oct. 29. “The Democrats have caused the problem, unfortunately. All they have to do is sign, and if they sign, I’ll meet with them.”
The president then suggested that the shutdown is linked to broader talks on health care and an extension of subsidies. Senate Democrats have refused 13 times to pass bills to reopen the government because those measures do not include health care provisions, including an extension of Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) subsidies slated to expire at the end of the year.
“We have to fix health care because Obamacare is a disaster,” Trump said, referring to the Affordable Care Act. “When you see the increases in Obamacare, it never worked, it never will work, and we could do something with the Democrats much better than Obamacare. Less money and better health care.”
Trump then said that health insurance companies are “making too much money” and said that talks are needed between Republicans and Democrats when the shutdown ends.
Managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), SNAP provides food assistance to about 42 million people—generally low-income individuals—each month. The agency has warned that because of the shutdown, benefits are unlikely to be sent out starting on Nov. 1.
In a statement posted on the USDA’s website earlier this week, the department warned that “the well has run dry.” The agency also blamed Democratic lawmakers for the shutdown and the loss of benefits.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) warned in an opinion article published this week that millions of Americans may lose access to food benefits in a few days if nothing changes. He urged Congress to pass a separate measure to ensure that SNAP benefits are not interrupted.
“America is a great and wealthy nation, and our most important wealth is our generosity of spirit,” Hawley wrote for The New York Times.
Democrats, meanwhile, have said that Republicans are to blame for the shutdown because Trump will not enter direct negotiations with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
They’ve also accused the Trump administration and Republicans of wanting to gut health care benefits for Americans under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was passed earlier this year.
At the same time, a House Democrat who chairs the appropriations committee has said that a decision by the administration not to use a contingency fund for food aid is likely illegal.
“The contingency funding that we set aside for SNAP is not optional spending. It is required by the law,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said in a news conference in the Capitol on Oct. 28.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), however, has said that the fund, which the Department of Agriculture has said is to be used in emergencies such as natural disasters, cannot be used now to pay for SNAP.
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