Uncertainty over federal food aid deepens as the shutdown fight reaches a crisis point

WASHINGTON (AP) — The crises at the heart of the government shutdown fight in Washington were coming to a head Saturday as the federal food assistance program faced delays and millions of Americans were set to see a dramatic rise in their health insurance bills.

The impacts on basic needs — food and medical care — underscored how the impasse is hitting homes across the United States. Plans by the Trump administration to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Saturday were halted by federal judges, but the delay in payouts will still likely leave millions of people short on their grocery bills.

It all added to the strain on the country, with a month of missed paychecks for federal workers and growing air travel delays. The shutdown is already the second longest in history and entered its second month on Saturday,.

“This is more than a crisis,” said the Rev. John Udo-Okon, who runs the Word of Life Christian Fellowship International food pantry in the Bronx, where hundreds more people than usual lined up in the New York City borough as early as 4 a.m. Saturday to collect groceries. “Right now, you can see the desperation, you can feel the frustration that the people are going through."

But back in Washington, there was little urgency to end the government funding impasse. Lawmakers are away from Capitol Hill and both parties are entrenched in their positions.

The House has not met for legislative business in more than six weeks, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., closed his chamber for the weekend after bipartisan talks failed to achieve significant progress.

Thune said he is hoping “the pressure starts to intensify, and the consequences of keeping the government shut down become even more real for everybody that they will express, hopefully new interest in trying to come up with a path forward.”

The stalemate appears increasingly unsustainable as Republican President Donald Trump demands action and Democratic leaders warn that an uproar over rising health insurance costs will force Congress to act.

“This weekend, Americans face a health care crisis unprecedented in modern times,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said this week.

Delays and uncertainty around SNAP

The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold $8 billion needed for payments to the food program starting on Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to make them. Trump said he would provide the money but wanted more legal direction from the court.

On Saturday, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell in Rhode Island ordered that the government needed to tell the court by Monday how it would fund SNAP accounts. McConnell, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, said the Trump administration needed to either make a full payment by Monday, or if it decides to only tap $3 billion in a contingency fund, figure out how to do that by Wednesday.

“There is no question that the congressionally approved contingency funds must be used now because of the shutdown,” McConnell wrote in his order.

But that still leaves uncertainty about whether the department will use additional money or only provide partial benefits for the month. The SNAP program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and costs about $8 billion per month.

Benefits were already facing delays because it takes a week or more to load SNAP cards in many states. Some governors and mayors have stepped in, using what money they have available to fill the program that feeds about 42 million Americans.

“People are just nervous, scared,” said Jill Corbin, the director of the St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen and food pantry in Norwich, Connecticut. ”It’s not really a definite answer that we have right now."

As people lined up early Saturday for hot meals and groceries, the organization had 10 extra volunteers to help newcomers navigate the process. On Wednesday, some 400 families visited the food pantry and 555 people received hot meals.

“It’s kind of like everything is unraveling at the same time,” Corbin said.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York criticized Trump for spending Saturday at one of his Florida golf courses, saying on social media that “Trump and Republicans are illegally withholding SNAP benefits."

"Millions of children could go hungry,” he added.

Democrats demanded this week that the government fund SNAP, but Republicans responded by arguing the program is in such a dire situation because Democrats have repeatedly voted against a short-term government funding bill.

“We are now reaching a breaking point thanks to Democrats voting no on government funding, now 14 different times,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at a news conference Friday.

Trump injected himself into the debate late Thursday by suggesting that Republican senators, who hold the majority, end the shutdown by getting rid of the filibuster rules that prevent most legislation from advancing unless it has the support of at least 60 senators. Democrats have used the filibuster to block a funding bill in the Senate for weeks.

Republican leaders quickly rejected Trump's idea, prompting the president to double down on the demand Saturday night.

“Don’t be WEAK AND STUPID. FIGHT,FIGHT, FIGHT! WIN, WIN, WIN!" Trump posted on social media, arguing that Democrats would terminate the filibuster rules if they regain the Senate majority. “We will immediately END the Extortionist Shutdown, get ALL of our agenda passed, and make life so good for Americans that these DERANGED DEMOCRAT politicians will never again have the chance to DESTROY AMERICA!”

“Republicans, you will rue the day that you didn’t TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER!!!” he added.

Health care subsidies expiring

The annual sign-up period for the Affordable Care Act health insurance also begins Saturday, and there are sharp increases in what people will have to pay for coverage. Enhanced tax credits that help most enrollees pay for the health plans are set to expire next year.

Democrats have rallied around a push to extend those credits and have refused to vote for government funding legislation until Congress acts.

“Millions of Americans in every state across this country are waking up to drastically higher premiums for the same health care coverage they’re already on.” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., in a statement.

If Congress does not extend the credits, subsidized enrollees will face cost increases of about 114%, or more than $1,000 per year, on average, health care research nonprofit KFF found.

Some Republicans in Congress have been open to the idea of extending the subsidies, but they also want to make major changes to the health overhaul enacted while Democrat Barack Obama was president. Thune has offered Democrats a vote on extending the benefits, but has not guaranteed a result. And he is demanding that Democrats first vote to reopen the government.

So the country waits and watches for Congress to act.

T.J. McCuin, whose family owns and operates farmers markets in Mesa and Apache Junction, Arizona, said 15% of the markets’ customers use SNAP benefits. "Hopefully this isn’t a long-term problem because once those benefits run out, then it’s going to start to hurt," he said.

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Haigh reported from Norwich, Connecticut. Associated Press writers Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.