US - House Democrats Push USDA to Fund Food Benefits as Shutdown
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WASHINGTON – On Friday, more than 200 representatives from the Democratic party in the U.S. House of Representatives suggested to the Agriculture Department that it should use its emergency reserves to cover November food benefits affected by the ongoing federal shutdown.
Earlier this week, states alerted that the federal shutdown could last until the end of the month leading to the loss of benefits for tens of millions of people under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as food stamps.
The 211 lawmakers, as reported first by Reuters, told the USDA to use its $5 billion emergency fund to pay for November SNAP, which would cover part of the monthly cost, and to additionally draw on other authorities at its disposal to provide.
“There are clear steps the administration can and must take immediately to ensure that millions of families across the country can put food on their table in November,” the letter, with the authorship of Jahana Hayes and Angie Craig who are the members of House Agriculture Committee, stated. Angie Craig is the main Democrat in the committee.
“Not to secure SNAP benefits for the needy this November would be a very serious violation of your duties to the American people,” the letter continued.
On Thursday, a group of mayors from over 1,000 U.S. cities also asked the USDA to tap emergency funds for the SNAP benefits.
The food aid issue has been described by USDA as a “inflection point for Senate Democrats.” As part of their plan to keep health care costs down for American consumers, Democrats have been hesitant to vote on the budget package. Both sides have blamed one another for the closure.
The department did not reply right away to the inquiry for comments.
SNAP benefits are received by over 41 million individuals. In addition, almost 7 million who get help from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) will also fall short of receiving their benefits in November.
The U.S. has been facing rising hunger rates for the past several years. President Donald Trump has decreased federal funding for food banks and increased SNAP work requirements under his July tax-cut and spending bill.
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