GOP senators split on food stamp bill as millions could lose benefits this weekend

Senate Republicans are mulling a handful of bills to close funding gaps as the shutdown drags on, but one that would prevent funding for federal benefits from expiring may not pass.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is pushing a bill that would extend food stamp funding, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), until the government reopens and regular government funding continues.

Its legislation comes after the Trump administration announced over the weekend that funding for the program would run out on Saturday and that it would reorganize funding for an emergency contingency fund to keep the program afloat.

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Senate Republicans are divided over a piecemeal bill that would fund federal food benefits ahead of a funding cliff Saturday when the program is expected to run out of money. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

This is one of a handful of bills proposed by Republicans to try to ease the pain of the ongoing shutdown. Others include efforts to pay some federal workers, the military and air traffic controllers, who did not receive their first full paycheck Tuesday.

Hawley stressed that he would like a vote on the bill, but has so far been blocked from reaching the floor. He believed the bill, which has 10 Republican co-sponsors and one Democratic co-sponsor, would pass if passed.

“I firmly believe that we do not need to allow 42 million people to go hungry,” he said.

But Senate Republican leaders and the White House want to pressure Senate Democrats to reopen the government, and resorting to the piecemeal “shotgun” strategy could get in the way.

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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is pushing for his bill to fund federal food benefits to get a vote, but pressure from Republican Senate leaders and the White House could stop it before the program’s funding cliff Saturday. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., took a strong stance against the gunshot approach after a closed-door lunch with the Senate GOP and Vice President J.D. Vance.

“This piecemeal approach, where you do it ad hoc here and there, to make it seem, you know, more politically palatable to someone or less painful. That’s just the wrong way to do it,” Thune said. “There’s a simple way to do it, and that’s to get the bill back on the Senate desk and give us five more Democratic votes to pass it.”

Vance said that “we’re trying to keep as open as possible” and explore all options with limited funds for SNAP and other issues, and he noted that the White House had found a way to pay the troops.

“You know, what would make it really easy? If the Democrats would just open up the government. Then we wouldn’t have to play this game of trying to find, trying to fit a square peg in a round hole with this budget,” Vance said.

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Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press conference following a military briefing at the Civil-Military Coordination Center October 21, 2025, in Kiryat Gat, Israel. (Nathan Howard/Pool/Getty Images)

Other Republicans echoed the White House’s leadership and sentiment.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., also has a one-time funding bill that would pay federal employees and military members, which he is trying to reconfigure in a compromise proposal with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

However, he seemed unwilling to support Hawley’s bill.

“The way you deliver SNAP benefits is to vote for House CR. It’s that simple,” he told Fox News Digital.

But the bill’s co-sponsors were still hopeful it could be attempted before Saturday’s funding crisis.

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., is the bill’s sole Democratic co-sponsor. He noted that while Democratic senators’ main goal during the shutdown was to extend expiring Obamacare premium subsidies, it was “about not taking food away from people who need it.”

“I’m really worried about people not being fed,” he said.

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Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, is another co-sponsor of the bill and told Fox News Digital that it depends on “how long this (shutdown) lasts” and whether the SNAP legislation is enforced.

“I hope so, because we cannot let people who need food starve because of the Democrats’ vanity and lack of humanity,” he said.