Live updates: SNAP benefits in peril as shutdown persists; Obama to stump for Dems in VA, NJ
Federal food aid is on the line as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is poised to run out of money on Saturday amid the ongoing government shutdown.
A federal judge on Friday ordered officials to tap emergency funds for the program and President Trump later indicated that he would follow through. But a plan has yet to come to fruition as more than 40 million people who rely on SNAP to help with grocery bills are expected to be impacted by the lapse.
Health care premiums are also expected to spike after open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act began Saturday without the subsidies that kept taxes on care at bay for low-income families. Democrats have pressed their Republican counterparts to extend the tax credits for weeks in exchange for their support on a stopgap plan to reopen the government after.
Trump, meanwhile, is at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday, with plans to attend a MAGA Inc. dinner in the evening.
Former President Obama is also hitting the campaign trail in Virginia and New Jersey in an effort to boost enthusiasm for Democratic gubernatorial nominees Abigail Spanberger (Va.) and Mikie Sherrill (N.J.) ahead of Tuesday’s elections.
While stumping for Spanberger in Norfolk, Va., on Saturday afternoon, Obama railed against the Trump administration’s “lawlessness and recklessness and mean-spiritedness,” adding that candidates like the former Virginia representative are needed because politics are “in a pretty dark place right now.”
The former president is scheduled to give remarks supporting Sherrill in Newark, N.J., later Saturday evening.
Follow along below for updates.
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