Faith Leaders Urge End to Federal Shutdown

Clergy, faith leaders and lawmakers urged Congress to end the federal shutdown, warning it is harming low-income Americans who rely on federal food aid and calling the impasse morally indefensible. Senate Chaplain Barry Black delivered a prayer on the Senate floor invoking the Golden Rule and warning that “no gold medals are given for breaking shutdown records,” urging lawmakers to care for “the lost, last and least.” The shutdown began Oct. 1 and is nearing the longest in modern U.S. history; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are set to run out on Nov. 1. House-passed short-term funding bills have repeatedly failed in the Senate amid a partisan standoff over extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies. Republicans say they will negotiate once the government is funded, while Democrats have blocked a clean continuing resolution to try to secure policy concessions; faith leaders and some lawmakers framed the stalemate as a moral crisis demanding action.