Schumer Caves on Key Issue Amid Ongoing Democrat Shutdown

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that Democrats will support Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s bill to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as the government shutdown stretches into its fourth week.

“Today, tomorrow, if [Senate Majority Leader] John Thune would put it on the floor, it would pass overwhelmingly,” Schumer said at a Capitol Hill press conference, The Hill reported.

Hawley’s legislation, titled the Keep SNAP Funded Act of 2025, would ensure benefits continue until the shutdown ends.

The Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, has warned that millions of low-income Americans could lose access to food assistance beginning Saturday if Congress does not act.

The bill has ten Republican co-sponsors: Sens. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Bernie Moreno of Ohio, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Katie Britt of Alabama, Jon Husted of Ohio, and John Cornyn of Texas.

Thune has argued that Democrats could end the shutdown immediately by approving the House-passed funding measure that would temporarily extend current spending levels.

In response, Sen. Ben Ray Luján introduced a competing measure Wednesday that would fund both SNAP and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC.

Every Senate Democrat has co-sponsored the bill, named the Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025.

According to the USDA, roughly 41.7 million Americans received SNAP benefits each month in fiscal year 2024 at a cost of $99.8 billion — about $187 per recipient monthly.

WIC supported 6.7 million people during the same period, covering approximately 41 percent of U.S. infants, and cost $7.2 billion.

Recipients are eligible to receive both SNAP and WIC benefits simultaneously.

USDA officials said this week that they will not tap into $5 billion in contingency funds previously set aside for emergencies.

Those funds, they said, are reserved for unforeseen crises such as natural disasters — not to continue operations during a lapse in government funding.

Next month’s SNAP benefits are expected to cost about $9.2 billion nationwide.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins reaffirmed the department’s position Tuesday, telling CNN that USDA “cannot legally use the contingency funds” to issue November benefits.

On the Senate floor Wednesday, Majority Leader John Thune showed rare anger, accusing Democrats of blocking multiple attempts to reopen the government.

“We tried to do that 13 times! You voted ‘no’ 13 times,” Thune said in response to Luján’s request for a standalone vote on SNAP funding.

“You all just figured out, 29 days in, that there might be some consequences,” Thune added.

Despite the heated exchanges, Thune told reporters that private discussions between party leaders had “ticked up significantly,” Axios reported.

“It will happen pretty soon,” he said when asked when formal negotiations might resume.

Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said senators from both parties are increasingly exploring solutions to end the impasse.

“There are more senators, both Republicans and Democrats, talking to each other about what it would take,” Coons said. “What does the path forward look like?”

Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, said Democrats are beginning to recognize that “if they want to retain the ability to influence spending decisions, it means we have to pass appropriations.”