GOP Presses Democrats as SNAP Cuts Loom

Republicans, galvanized under Donald Trump, are publicly pressuring Senate Democrats to pass a clean continuing resolution to end the 30-day shutdown, with Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. John Thune blaming Democrats and Senate leader Chuck Schumer for the impasse. Lawmakers warned SNAP benefits for more than 42 million Americans are set to lapse on Nov. 1, prompting a bipartisan Keep SNAP Funded effort and Sen. Ben Ray Luján to push funding measures while sparring with Thune on the Senate floor. Senate talks show cautious movement — Sen. Katie Britt has been in contact with Schumer as appropriators push a minibus-plus-stopgap plan that some senators say could produce a near-term path out. Democrats condemned President Trump’s announcement ordering a resumption of nuclear weapons testing, raising environmental and strategic concerns. House Republicans have tried to nationalize the fight by citing progressive figures like Zohran Mamdani, even as internal GOP tensions persist (including private criticism of Johnson by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene), and state and local officials are weighing emergency steps to blunt SNAP interruptions.