{"id":261962,"date":"2025-10-31T02:28:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T02:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/261962\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T02:28:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T02:28:19","slug":"effects-of-shutdown-leave-us-lawmakers-grasping-for-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/261962\/","title":{"rendered":"Effects of shutdown leave US lawmakers grasping for answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Certain senators<\/a> know it. House Speaker Mike Johnson<\/a> knows it. And with President Donald Trump<\/a> back in Washington from his overseas trip<\/a>, perhaps the White House knows it, too.<\/p>\n

For many, it\u2019s time for the government shutdown<\/a> to come to an end.<\/p>\n

From coast to coast, fallout<\/a> from the dysfunction of a shuttered federal government<\/a> is hitting home: Alaskans are stockpiling moose, caribou and fish for winter, even before SNAP food aid is scheduled to shut off<\/a>. Mainers are filling up their home-heating oil tanks, but waiting on the federal subsidies that are nowhere in sight. <\/p>\n

Flights are being delayed<\/a> with holiday travel around the corner. Workers are going without paychecks. And Americans are getting a first glimpse of the skyrocketing health care insurance costs<\/a> that are at the center of the stalemate on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are stressing,\u201d said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as food options in her state grow scarce. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are well past time to have this behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n

While quiet talks are underway, particularly among bipartisan senators, the shutdown is not expected to end before Saturday\u2019s deadline when Americans\u2019 deep food insecurity<\/a> \u2014 one in eight people depend on the government to have enough to eat \u2014 could become starkly apparent if federal SNAP funds run dry.<\/p>\n

Money for military, but not food aid<\/p>\n

The White House has moved money around to ensure the military is paid, but refuses to tap funds for food aid. In fact, Trump\u2019s \u201cbig, beautiful bill\u201d<\/a> signed into law this summer, delivered the most substantial cut ever to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program<\/a>, known as SNAP, projected to result in some 2.4 million people off the program.<\/p>\n

At the same time, many Americans who purchase their own health insurance through the federal and state marketplaces, with open enrollment also beginning Saturday, are experiencing sticker shock as premium prices jump.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are holding food over the heads of poor people so that we can take away their health care,\u201d said Rev. Ryan Stoess, during a prayer with religious leaders at the U.S. Capitol.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod help us,\u201d he said, \u201cwhen the cruelty is the point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deadlines shift to next week<\/p>\n

The House remains closed down under Johnson for the past month. Senators are preparing to depart Thursday for the long weekend. Trump returns late Thursday after a whirlwind tour of Asia.<\/p>\n

That means the shutdown, in its 30th day, appears all but certain to stretch into another week, putting it on track to become the longest in history<\/a>, surpassing the 35-day lapse that ended in 2019, during Trump\u2019s first term over his demands to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall.<\/p>\n

The next inflection point comes after Tuesday\u2019s off-year elections \u2014 the New York City mayor\u2019s race<\/a>, as well as elections in Virginia and New Jersey<\/a> that will determine those states\u2019 governors. Many expect that once those winners and losers are declared, and the Democrats and Republicans assess their political standing with the voters, they might be ready to hunker down for a deal.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Senate<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks with reporters following a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans on day 28 of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks with reporters following a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans on day 28 of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that it frees people up to move forward with opening the government,\u201d said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. <\/p>\n

GOP cut SNAP in Trump\u2019s big bill <\/p>\n

The Republicans, who have majority control of Congress, find themselves in an unusual position, defending the furloughed federal workers and shuttered programs they have long sought to cut \u2014 including most recently with nearly $1 trillion in reductions in Trump\u2019s big tax breaks and spending bill.<\/p>\n

Medicaid, the health care program, and SNAP food aid, suffered sizable blows this summer, in part by imposing new work requirements. For SNAP recipients, many of whom were already required to work, the new requirements extend to older Americans up to age 64 and parents of older school-age children.<\/p>\n

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Republicans now \u201chave the nerve\u201d to suggest it\u2019s a political strategy to withhold food aid. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Vice<\/p>\n

Vice President JD Vance speaks to the media alongside Sean O\u2019Brien, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, from left, Chris Sununu, president & CEO of Airlines for America, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and aviation industry representatives, about the impact of the government shutdown on the aviation industry, outside of the West Wing of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/p>\n

Vice President JD Vance speaks to the media alongside Sean O\u2019Brien, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, from left, Chris Sununu, president & CEO of Airlines for America, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and aviation industry representatives, about the impact of the government shutdown on the aviation industry, outside of the West Wing of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to lift up the quality of life for the American people,\u201d Jeffries of New York said about his party.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American people understand that there\u2019s a Republican health care crisis,\u201d he said. \u201cThe American people understand Republicans enacted the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history when they cut $186 billion from their one, big, ugly bill.\u201d <\/p>\n

During the summer debate over Trump\u2019s big bill, Johnson and other Republicans railed against what they characterized as lazy Americans, riding what the House speaker calls the \u201cgravy train\u201d of government benefits.<\/p>\n

The speaker spoke about able-bodied young men playing video games while receiving Medicaid health care benefits and insisted the new work requirements for the aid programs would weed out what they called \u201cwaste, fraud and abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re talking about, again, is able-bodied workers, many of whom are refusing to work because they\u2019re gaming the system,\u201d Johnson said in spring on CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when we make them work, it\u2019ll be better for everybody, a win-win-win for all,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

What remains out of reach, for now, is any relief from the new health care prices, posted this week<\/a>, that are expected to put insurance out of reach for many Americans when federal subsidies that help offset those costs are set to expire at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Democrats have been holding out for negotiations with Trump and the Republicans to keep those subsidies in place. Republicans say they can address the issue later, once the government reopens.<\/p>\n

__<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Matt Brown contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Certain senators know it. House Speaker Mike Johnson knows it. And with President Donald Trump…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3505,12,1070,9294,793,3138,787,9292,9149,2601,9283,9289,13410,1997,2005,1999,3,111,141255,8638,9293,3438,21,19,22,20,25,24,800],"class_list":["post-261962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-district-of-columbia","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-foreign-aid","tag-general-news","tag-government-and-politics","tag-government-programs","tag-government-shutdown","tag-health-care-costs","tag-health-care-industry","tag-john-thune","tag-lisa-murkowski","tag-mike-johnson","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-ryan-stoess","tag-u-s-democratic-party","tag-u-s-government-shutdown","tag-u-s-republican-party","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-washington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}