WASHINGTON – After a monthlong shutdown stalemate, the vibes are starting to shift (if slowly) on Capitol Hill.
In recent days, several lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, have suggested there’s been a renewed vigor in bipartisan back-channeling among rank-and-file lawmakers. The political movement comes as shutdown-related disruptions are multiplying, and as President Donald Trump is set to return from a weeklong trip to Asia on Thursday, Oct. 30.
As soon as this weekend, major funding cutoffs are approaching for government programs relied on by millions of Americans. Lawmakers seem to be feeling the pressure.
“There’s been a significant uptick in bipartisan conversations,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. “That’s the good news.”
The latest pain point came Wednesday, when the Federal Aviation Administration cited staffing issues as it ordered a ground stop at Newark Liberty International Airport, an important transportation hub. All flights to Los Angeles International Airport were briefly halted for similar reasons over the weekend.
Even bigger issues are on the horizon, though. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which is utilized by more than 40 million low-income Americans, is set to dry up for the first time ever starting on Saturday, Nov. 1. A measure from Democrats to safeguard food stamps from the consequences of the shutdown was struck down in the Senate on Wednesday.
Joel Berg, the CEO of Hunger Free America, has warned the impending crisis will be the “greatest hunger catastrophe in America since the Great Depression.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed, leaving agencies working at mere fractions of their usual capacities.
Read more: SNAP benefits won’t go out Nov. 1. ‘The well has run dry,’ USDA says.
Democratic SNAP funding bill blocked by GOP senator
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) enters a press conference to discuss SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) food aid benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown.
A bill to keep funds flowing to food stamps and nutritional programs for low-income women, infants, and children was blocked on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Money for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, could run out soon, even with a recent emergency cash infusion earlier this month.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján asked the Senate to pass through a procedural step known as unanimous consent his bill that would fund SNAP and WIC through the government shutdown.
“Pass this bill now,” Luján said on the Senate floor. “Fund SNAP, fund WIC, before this hunger crisis hits our communities.”
Majority Leader John Thune forcefully objected to it on the Senate floor, calling for lawmakers to instead pass the House-passed temporary funding bill.
“The senator from New Mexico is absolutely right. SNAP recipients shouldn’t go without food. People should be getting paid in this country, and we’ve tried to do that 13 times. And you voted no 13 times,” Thune said.
“This isn’t a political game,” he added. “These are real people’s lives we are talking about, and you have all just figured out 29 days in that, oh, there may be some consequences?”
– Rebecca Morin
House staffers won’t get paid Friday, memo says
Clouds appear to curve around the dome of the U.S. Capitol during the continuing U.S. government shutdown in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 15, 2025.
Wages for staffers in the House of Representatives will be delayed until the government reopens, according to an email sent to employees Wednesday.
Their October paychecks were originally scheduled to be disbursed Friday.
Lawmakers in the House haven’t taken a vote in weeks. They remain on an indefinite 48-hour return notice.
Shutdown could cost economy $7B to $14B: CBO
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the shutdown will cost the U.S. economy from $7 billion to $14 billion – depending whether the shutdown lasts another month – that will never be recovered.
CBO said in a Wednesday letter that the country’s economic activity will be lower because of the shutdown based on fewer services provided by hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed, lower federal spending and reduced food assistance benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
“The reduction in output stemming from the time furloughed employees did not work will not be recovered,” CBO told House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas.
The range of estimates on economic losses was based on the shutdown ending Oct. 29 to Nov. 26.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bipartisan shutdown talks tick up as Trump returns. Day 30 updates
