The federal government shutdown has now entered its fifth week with no resolution in sight; it has been shut down for 27 days as this article was going to print. The House remains out of session, as it has been since late September, and Speaker Mike Johnson has affirmed multiple times that lawmakers in the House will not return until the government is re-opened. Meanwhile, the Senate has failed 12 times to advance the House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR), which would fund the government through November 21. Every attempt to clear the 60-vote threshold has fallen short. Three members of the Democratic caucus – Senators Angus King (I-ME), John Fetterman (D-PA), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) – continue to support the measure, but Republicans remain five votes short of breaking the filibuster.

At the heart of the stalemate is a dispute over expiring enhanced health insurance tax credits, a top Democratic priority. Democrats are also pushing to restore funding for public broadcasting and reverse $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Pressure continues to mount in Washington as the shutdown threatens to halt food stamp benefits for millions of low-income Americans by the end of the week. The Agriculture Department announced it will not use contingency funds to pay Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in November, despite pressure from Democratic lawmakers to tap what they claim is at least $5 billion in available funding. The department also stated it will not reimburse states that choose to cover benefits.

“SNAP contingency funds are only available to supplement regular monthly benefits when amounts have been appropriated for, but are insufficient to cover benefits. The contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists,” the memo said.

Earlier this month, NEFI published a detailed breakdown of how the shutdown impacts on our members, which remains available on our website.