Recess extends government funding lapse over weekend

Senate Democrats blocked a continuing resolution to fund the government for the 10th time on Thursday. After another procedural vote on defense appropriations failed, the chamber recessed for the weekend, meaning the shutdown will continue at least until Monday evening when the senators reconvene. The House has been out of Washington since Sept. 19 with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., canceling votes for each week that the shutdown continues. He has argued that the House has no work to do until the Senate passes the temporary funding.

What about military paychecks? Service members were slated to miss their first paychecks of the shutdown on Wednesday, the 15th. But President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to “identify funds” to pay the military. The Pentagon rerouted roughly $8 billion of unobligated research development funds from the prior fiscal year that it will now use for the payroll of the 1.3 million active-duty members and roughly 780,000 National Guard and reserve troops. In a news conference on Wednesday, Johnson warned that this is a temporary fix.

What about food assistance? The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, have continued to distribute aid. However, benefits are on track to run out in November unless funding is restored. WIC was slated to expire last week until the White House temporarily rerouted some money to keep it operational. SNAP is categorized as mandatory spending and has not been affected by the shutdown, but the Agriculture Department warned it will not have enough money to pay all its obligations next month if the shutdown continues.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report in the Sift about Trump’s attempts to lay off thousands of federal workers during the shutdown and the federal judge blocking him.