Sen. Josh Hawley said he would try to set up a vote if it doesn’t get formally scheduled ahead of a Nov. 1 cutoff for the nutrition benefits.
Senate Republicans are discussing voting on a bill that would prevent millions of low-income Americans from losing access to food aid on Nov. 1.
The bill from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) would fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for the duration of the shutdown, which on Wednesday entered its 22nd day. The Department of Agriculture warned earlier this month that if the government shutdown dragged on “there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for approximately 42 million individuals across the Nation.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a brief interview that senators were discussing “some options,” though nothing had been scheduled yet. With the Senate set to leave town on Thursday, and the legislation not yet teed up, the earliest it could get a vote is the middle of next week absent an agreement with Democrats.
Hawley, in a separate interview, confirmed there had been discussion about potentially bringing up his bill for a vote.
“If they don’t give it a vote then I’m going to take it to the floor and try to UC it or UC a vote agreement,” Hawley said, referring to seeking unanimous consent, or buy-in from all of his 99 colleagues, to either pass or vote on the bill.
Republicans have been warning about the SNAP cliff as a critical looming pain point of the government shutdown.
Republicans held off bringing up bills on specific programs or departments for the first phase of the shutdown. But as the funding lapse has dragged on, they’ve tried to increase political pressure on Democrats to test their resolve to oppose funding.
They previously brought up a Defense funding bill, which Democrats blocked last week. And they will vote Thursday on legislation from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) that would pay federal workers who are required to work through the shutdown, as well as active-duty members of the military.
Democrats are expected to vote against the Johnson bill over concerns that it would let President Donald Trump pay employees he prefers and furlough everyone else. Democrats are expected to roll out an alternative proposal as soon as Wednesday.
Republicans are also eyeing voting on two additional bills: One from Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) on troop pay and another from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to pay TSA employees and air traffic controllers. Neither has been formally scheduled but Republicans took an initial step on Wednesday to make them available for a vote.