Overview
- The Senate failed for the 12th time to advance the House stopgap bill, keeping the closure as the second-longest on record while Democrats seek an ACA subsidy extension and Republicans demand reopening first.
- An Oct. 10 USDA letter told states there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for roughly 42 million people if the lapse continues, with at least 36 states issuing public warnings.
- Most federal employees will miss their first full paychecks starting Friday after senators also failed to move separate measures to pay workers during the shutdown.
- States are scrambling to blunt the impact, with Colorado pledging up to $10 million for food banks and Hawaii authorizing $100 million in TANF support, as WIC strains and Head Start programs report operating without federal funds.
- Debate intensifies over stopgap fixes: the SNAP contingency fund holds about $5 billion—short of a full month—Sen. Josh Hawley proposed a bill to keep SNAP paid during the lapse, and the White House said it would support such legislation.