Senate GOP Blocks SNAP Funding as Shutdown Grinds On

As Families Go Hungry, Troops Get Paid Through Private Money and Budget Raids

On November 3, over a month into the ongoing federal government shutdown, Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic resolution to fully fund SNAP benefits for November. The move leaves over 42 million Americans facing reduced or entirely absent food assistance just as the holiday season begins.

It’s the first public, standalone legislative effort we’ve seen in this shutdown aimed at a core lifeline program, and it collapsed without a vote.

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One Senator, One Objection, and No Debate

The resolution, introduced by Senators Jeff Merkley and Chuck Schumer, never even reached the floor. It was blocked by a single objection from Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), who claimed the measure was a political stunt. What followed was even more telling: silence.

Not one Republican senator stepped in to debate, propose amendments, or offer an alternative. The objection stood, and with it, the GOP cut off a clear opportunity to restore full food aid to tens of millions of Americans.

See our most recent reporting here:

Starving the System

Barrasso’s role here wasn’t incidental. Wyoming has one of the lowest SNAP participation rates in the country, with only about 5% of its residents enrolled. The move was strategic. He was the safest public face for a deeply unpopular decision, chosen precisely because his phones aren’t ringing off the hook with furious constituents. Republicans from states like Florida, Missouri, and North Carolina — all of which have far higher rates of SNAP usage — could keep their heads down and hands clean.

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

The result was a coordinated evasion. A moral decision was made, and then hidden behind procedure.

Hunger Is Political. So Is Silence.

The GOP claims the Democratic resolution was a stunt. However, stunts are for show. What we saw on the Senate floor was an act of avoidance, a refusal to show up, to vote, and to engage. If it truly was a Democratic ploy, why not confront it head-on? Why not counter with a Republican proposal?

Instead, they let Barrasso speak and quietly fell in line behind him. It was efficient. It was calculated. And it was cruel.

But the Will to Fund SNAP Exists, Just Not the Will to Vote on It

The idea that Republicans uniformly oppose restoring food assistance is now demonstrably false. In fact, Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, introduced the Keep SNAP Funded Act, a bipartisan bill supported by 15 Republican senators, 11 Democrats, and 2 Independents.

That’s a filibuster-proof coalition. If brought to the floor, the bill would likely pass overwhelmingly.

But Senate GOP leadership, specifically Majority Leader John Thune, has refused to allow a vote. Thune insists the only appropriate path forward is reopening the government through a broader continuing resolution. That position, however, directly contradicts the bipartisan momentum behind the standalone measure.

So now, two contradictory realities exist in the same chamber:

• A bipartisan bill with the numbers to pass, and

• A leadership structure actively blocking it from the floor.

It exposes the real dynamic at play: the issue isn’t policy — it’s politics. Party leaders are more invested in preserving leverage than in feeding families.

Troops Paid, But at a Cost

So why hasn’t there been the same level of outrage about military pay?

Because the troops are getting paid, at least for now.

The Department of Defense accepted a $130 million donation in October, later reported to be from Trump mega-donor Timothy Mellon. That covered barely a day’s payroll. The administration also redirected $8 billion in military R&D funding to cover salaries. These moves kept checks flowing, but they are neither sustainable nor straightforward.

There are serious questions about the legality of both actions. The Antideficiency Act prohibits spending federal money that hasn’t been appropriated, and the “purpose statute” bars using funds for anything other than their designated purpose. Legal experts have called this a dangerous precedent, one that could unravel norms about public control over military funding.

But politically? It worked. The troops are quiet. The headlines haven’t exploded. The “support the troops” base has no reason to turn up the heat, at least not yet.

And that’s the point. With the pressure off, there’s no incentive to propose a clean, bipartisan military pay bill. Doing so could fracture GOP unity, invite Democratic amendments, or trigger calls to fund other programs, such as SNAP. Better to duct tape the problem and delay.

A Pattern of Obstruction, Not Governance

This is the same playbook we’ve seen throughout the shutdown.

The House still hasn’t reconvened. Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva remains unsworn, over a month after her victory, her vote potentially decisive in moving forward on a long-delayed discharge petition that could force a vote on releasing the Epstein files. Nothing moves forward. The Senate has potential solutions with real support, but leadership is blocking them. There is no relief, no reckoning.

And all the while, federal workers remain furloughed, air traffic controllers go unpaid, and families dependent on food assistance are told to wait, maybe weeks, maybe months.

The Longer This Lasts, the Clearer the Story Becomes

At some point, the House will have to reconvene, and the Senate will have to take a stand. Meanwhile, the damage is unfolding in real time. Hungry families don’t care about procedural purity or internal party politics. They care that the government they pay into has turned its back on them during the holidays.

The GOP may be betting that voters will forget, that distraction will set in, and that temporary workarounds will hold. But they’re forgetting something else: Food insecurity isn’t forgettable. Hunger lingers, and betrayal this visible doesn’t disappear.

Less than a year from the midterms, when there is often a power flip, the GOP is not doing itself any favors. They mobilized their base around the Epstein files. Now, in addition to not releasing them, they are playing with people’s livelihoods and food security to prevent further action.

GOP leadership is proving what Dems have been saying for decades: Republicans cannot govern, nor do they want to. With the trifecta, however slim the margins, what exactly have they accomplished? Militarization in blue cities? Empty SNAP wallets? Rising costs? Tax cuts for the wealthiest, a gilded ballroom that voters will never enter, and elite pedophiles being protected will not be easily forgotten or forgiven.

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Sources:

• Senate Republicans strike down Democratic proposal to fully fund Snap — The Guardian, Nov 3, 2025.

• Republicans Block Full SNAP Benefits From Being Paid Out This Month — Newsweek, Nov 4, 2025.

• GOP Blocks Democratic Resolution Demanding Full SNAP Funding — Common Dreams, Nov 3, 2025.

• Trump administration posts notice that no federal food aid will go out Nov. 1 — AP News, Oct 26, 2025.

• Full list of Republicans sponsoring SNAP funding bill as benefits run out — Newsweek, Oct 31, 2025.

• Thune Explodes at Democrats as GOP Blocks SNAP Funding Bill — Fiscal Times, Oct 29, 2025.

• Pentagon to use $130 million anonymous donation to help pay troops — The Washington Post, Oct 24, 2025.

• DOD accepts anonymous $130M donation to partially cover troop pay — Politico, Oct 24, 2025.

• Trump says a ‘friend’ donated $130 million to pay the US military during the shutdown — Business Insider, Oct 24, 2025.

• Private donation only amounts to drop in bucket needed to pay US troops amid shutdown — Washington Examiner, Oct 27, 2025.

• Can DoD use private funds to pay troops during shutdown? — FedNews Network, Oct 24, 2025.

• Trump backer Timothy Mellon identified as donor of $130 m for US troop pay during government shutdown — The Guardian, Oct 25, 2025.