The Senate convened Tuesday morning as the government shutdown neared the record for longest in U.S. history.
The Senate was expected to gavel in at 10 a.m. EST Nov. 4. Watch live in the player above.
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday that he was “optimistic” the Senate could vote to reopen the government by the end of the week if lawmakers make progress over the next couple days. That followed comments from President Donald Trump who said he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats to reopen. Democrats say they want to fix a health care crisis and extend subsidies.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration indicated in court that it will only partially fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as the government shutdown reaches into a second month. The Department of Agriculture had planned to withhold $8 billion needed for the food program starting Saturday until two judges ordered the administration to fund it.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, had planned to freeze payments starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it during the federal government shutdown. The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. It costs more than $8 billion per month nationally. The government says an emergency fund it will use has $4.65 billion — enough to cover about half the normal benefits.
WATCH: What the food benefit cuts mean for state aid systems
It’s not clear exactly how much beneficiaries will receive, nor how quickly they will see value show up on the debit cards they use to buy groceries. November payments have already been delayed for millions of people.
This post will be updated.
