Democrats Knew Full Well Their Shutdown Would Affect SNAP Benefits

Majority Leader | Research | The Leader Board | THE NEWSR...Skip to primary navigation Skip to content×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNE×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNExxsearchxMENUFacebookXInstagramFacebookXInstagramVisit Leader Thune's South Dakota Site Here THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNExxsearchxMENUHomeTHE NEWSROOMThe Leader Board10.31.25Democrats Knew Full Well Their Shutdown Would Affect SNAP BenefitsDemocrats Knew a Prolonged Government Shutdown Would Endanger Critical Food Assistance Programs and Repeatedly Warned About These Consequences in the Past DEMOCRATS, GIVEN THE CHOICE TO REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT AND FUND SNAP OR KOWTOW TO THEIR PROGRESSIVE BASE, HAVE CHOSEN THEIR PROGRESSIVE BASE 13 TIMES“Democrats cannot cave right now.” – Progressive Change Campaign Committee National Press Secretary Sydney Register“The federal government is now in its longest full shutdown ever.” (Fox News: Government enters longest full shutdown in US history with no end in sight – 10/22/25)“Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are going without pay; millions of Americans who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for food are set to miss payments starting this weekend; and air-traffic staffing shortages are causing groundstops across the country. Congressional Democrats are under real pressure to cave — and they aren’t.” (NOTUS: The Democratic Base Is Very Happy With Their Members In Congress — For Once – 10/29/25)Democrats have voted against fully funding the government, including SNAP, 13 times. (H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #590 – 10/28/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #581 – 10/22/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #576 – 10/20/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #573 – 10/16/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #572 – 10/15/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #571 – 10/14/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #558 – 10/9/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #551 – 10/8/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #545 – 10/6/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #543 – 10/3/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #537 – 10/1/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #535 – 9/30/25; H.R. 5371: Roll Call Vote #528 – 9/19/25)Democrats may have plunged the country into the longest full government shutdown in history, but at least “The Democratic Base Is Very Happy With Their Members In Congress — For Once.” (NOTUS: The Democratic Base Is Very Happy With Their Members In Congress — For Once – 10/29/25)Britt Jacovich, deputy communications director at MoveOn, “said she’s impressed that Democrats are ‘continuing to show that we can’t send strongly worded letters and expect Trump to listen. ‘I think that era of politics is long gone,’ she continued. ‘Democrats understand that right now. It’s definitely a welcomed shift.’” (NOTUS: The Democratic Base Is Very Happy With Their Members In Congress — For Once – 10/29/25)“The shutdown has happened in the middle of a very public debate over how Democrats should present themselves to voters after the humiliation they experienced in 2024.” (NOTUS: The Democratic Base Is Very Happy With Their Members In Congress — For Once – 10/29/25)IN PRIOR YEARS, DEMOCRATS HAVE WARNED THAT A PROLONGED GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WOULD ENDANGER PROGRAMS LIKE SNAPIn September 2023, Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said a shutdown would affect SNAP “if the shutdown goes beyond October:”“Nearly 2.9 million households across New York State are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but their benefits will be jeopardized if the shutdown goes beyond October.” (Sen. Schumer: Schumer: Government Shutdown Would Hurt Every Corner Of New York State; Senator Calls On Congress To Pass Bipartisan Agreement To Keep Government Open And Breaks Down Impact A House Republican-Caused Shutdown Would Have On Families, Local Economy & NY’s Federal Workforce Throughout The Empire State – 9/28/23)In September 2023, then-Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack warned that there would be “serious consequences to SNAP” if a shutdown lasted beyond October:“SNAP, which offers food assistance to low-income families nationwide, also receives funding annually from the federal government. It’s set to see benefits boost on Oct. 1 (as well as eligibility requirements change) and would last at least through the month, according to Vilsack. But, if there is a government shutdown, and it lasts beyond October, ‘there would be some serious consequences to SNAP,’ he noted.” (The Hill: Would a government shutdown impact SNAP, WIC food assistance? – 9/26/23)In 2023, Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) office said that “[d]uring a prolonged government shutdown, the ability to send out SNAP benefits could be halted because the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is only able to send out benefits for 30 days after a shutdown begins… Approximately 460,000 Virginia families receive SNAP benefits.” (Sen. Kaine: Kaine Sounds Alarm About Costs of Government Shutdown, Calls on Congressional Republicans to Fund Government on Time – 9/21/23)In 2023, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) said a government shutdown would “delay critical nutrition benefits” to 480,545 New Mexicans who receive SNAP. (Sen. Lujan: Luján Statement on Potential Federal Government Shutdown – 9/29/23)In 2019, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) warned that a prolonged government shutdown would jeopardize food assistance, saying, “[f]amilies who depend upon food stamps to put food on the table may not be able to get that help.” (Sen. Sanders: Sanders Statement on How the Government Shutdown is Affecting Vermonters – 1/7/19)Many more Senate Democrats used to oppose government shutdowns over the fact that they cut off funding for SNAP and other food assistance programs:“This is what a shutdown means: Reducing food assistance programs, causing delays for Social Security applicants, denying pay to our troops, all while reducing economic output by untold billions. This disaster will put families in Oregon and across the country at risk – a risk they simply shouldn’t have to face.” – Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) (9/29/23)“400,000 Minnesotans rely on nutrition assistance to help meet their needs for food. And with the shutdown, those programs are all thrown up in the air and it is affecting people really directly. So today, we’re trying to get a message out to people that we need to end the shutdown now.” – Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) (1/19/19)“In Virginia, 127,124 women and children are at risk of not receiving vital nutrition assistance during a government shutdown. We can and should prevent this from happening by passing a bipartisan bill to fund the government as soon as possible.” – Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) (9/27/23)“[W]e got about 125,000 people, mamas and babies in Massachusetts, that get food assistance. So, this is- Come on, this is baby formula. And everybody's trying to scramble together to see if we can keep it going a few days, but the federal money will be gone, and assistance will be gone.” –Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) (9/29/23)“A government shutdown would have serious impacts. Servicemembers won't get their paychecks. Airports could have major delays. Nutrition assistance for children could be cut off. We can’t let any of that happen. Congress needs to work together to prevent a shutdown.” – Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) (9/29/23)“The #TrumpShutdown is hurting families by disrupting SNAP benefits that 850,000 Arizonans count on to put food on the table. We MUST #EndTheShutdown.” – Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) (1/17/19)IT’S TIME FOR DEMOCRATS TO DROP THEIR OBSESSION WITH “LEVERAGE” AND REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT TO PREVENT FURTHER REAL-WORLD HARDSHIPS FOR AMERICANS“People should be getting paid in this country. And we’ve tried to do that 13 times! And you voted no 13 times! This isn’t a political game. These are real people’s lives that we’re talking about. And you all just figured out – 29 days in – that, oh, there might be some consequences!” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.)Democrats have made it clear that they view the pain their shutdown inflicts on everyday Americans as “leverage”:“Every day gets better for us.” – Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)“Of course there will be families that are going to suffer… but it is one of the few leverage times we have.” – House Democrat Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.)“It’s the only lever we have.” – Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)“Frankly, this is our only moment of leverage, and although a very unpleasant tool to use.” – Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.)“And you reopen the government, and we lose our leverage.” – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)“Sen. Mark Kelly argued now is not the time for Democrats to give up leverage.” (Politico: GOP dares Dems to buck bipartisan spending bill – 10/16/25)PrintEmailTweetPreviousTHE NEWSROOMSENATE RESOURCESABOUT LEADER THUNEFacebookXInstagram