President Donald Trump’s administration faces deadlines on Monday to tell two federal judges whether it will comply with court orders to resume funding benefits through SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown, which is now in its 34th day.
Trump, meanwhile, says he ‘won’t be extorted’ by Democrats, signaling no end soon. During a “60 Minutes” interview that aired on Sunday, Trump said he would
only negotiate on extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies once the government is reopened. At that point, the slim Republican majorities in Congress will enable them to continue ignoring Democratic input.
The shortage of air traffic controllers amid the shutdown continues to lead to delayed flights into and out of the United States. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been warning that travelers will start to see more flight disruptions the longer controllers go without a paycheck.
The shutdown is triggering a wave of closures of Head Start centers where students — who come from low-income households, are homeless or are in foster care — will miss out on preschool, where they are fed two meals a day and receive therapy vital to their development. Some centers say they’ll close indefinitely, while others are staying afloat with emergency funding.
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“I think they have to,” Trump said during the “60 Minutes” interview. “And if they don’t vote, it’s their problem.”
With Senate Democrats now voting 13 times against reopening the government, insisting they need Trump and Republicans to negotiate with them first, Trump said Republican leaders should change Senate rules and scrap the filibuster.
“Republicans have to get tougher,” Trump told CBS. “If we end the filibuster, we can do exactly what we want.”
Senate Republicans have repeatedly rejected that idea, arguing that requiring 60 votes to overcome any objections is vital to the Senate, and has allowed them to stop Democratic policies when they’re in the minority.
