Republicans block full SNAP benefits from being paid out this month

Senate Republicans blocked a push by Democrats to restore full funding for the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP) on Monday, which has seen its resources run out over the weekend due to the ongoing government shutdown, according to multiple reports.

Sens. Jeff Merkley and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, put forward a resolution backed by 44 Democrats in the upper house demanding that SNAP benefits be immediately restored for the roughly 42 million Americans who rely on it to put food on the table for them and their families.

The Department of Agriculture would have been forced to release enough funds to support the delivery of SNAP benefits for the month of November—an estimated $8 billion – if the measure had been passed.

But the initiative was blocked by Republicans after Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso objected calling the move a “political stunt” and saying reopening government would be the easiest way to restore benefits, reports The Hill.

This is a developing story and will be updated.