Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) on Monday shot down a Democrat-led attempt to force the Trump administration to fully fund the country’s largest anti-hunger program during the government shutdown. Democrats, led by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, moved to get unanimous support for a resolution that requires USDA to fund all $8 billion worth of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November. Barrasso objected, blaming Democrats for repeatedly voting down a GOP stopgap funding bill, which included money for SNAP, in order to push for extensions of key Obamacare subsidies. “Democrats knew their actions threatened food assistance. They were fully aware of it,” Barrasso said, calling on his colleagues across the aisle to vote for the funding bill “immediately.” Democrats’ attempt comes after the Trump administration said Monday it would use about $5 billion from a USDA contingency fund to cover partial SNAP benefits for nearly 42 million Americans, in response to a federal judge’s order. The administration, however, declined to tap other sources — like a Section 32 fund of unused tariff revenue — to help fully pay for SNAP. The new resolution would have required the administration to use that tariff money, in addition to the contingency fund, for the program. Merkley argued that allowing USDA to only deliver partial benefits would result in weeks of delays for families being able to receive that money, as Trump officials themselves have warned. “They’re choosing to fund only half and everything has to be reprogrammed to the computer system to make that happen,” Merkley said on the Senate floor. “This resolution that I have tonight, it’s very simple and expresses a number of thoughts that I’ve heard from both sides of the aisle.” Funding for SNAP has become one of the biggest drivers of pressure on lawmakers to negotiate an end to the shutdown, which is set to beat the 35-day record set in 2018. Food aid funding lapsed for the first time in history over the weekend, leaving states, food banks and nonprofits scrambling to fill in the loss of federal dollars. Even though the administration agreed to partially fund SNAP benefits, multiple state administrators told POLITICO on Monday that they hadn’t received any guidance from USDA on how much money they’ll receive or how they’ll be expected to disperse it.

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