Could the SNAP deadline get Congress to end the shutdown?

Left, Right & Center

KCRW

352865, News

4.2 • 4.8K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The federal shutdown is set to extend past the one month mark. The longer the shutdown goes, the more Americans could feel its impact. The Department of Agriculture announced that it would not use emergency funding to keep supplying the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - also known as food stamps - after November 1st. Halting SNAP payments would affect more than 40 million Americans. Many federal workers, including air traffic controllers, are working without pay while the shutdown battle continues. With the holiday season approaching, airline travel could take a major hit. Will these economic pressure points jolt Congress into action?

Construction on a new grand ballroom at the White House has begun. Renovations at the ‘People’s House’ are nothing new. So why has the demolition and remodel of the East Wing drawn so much attention? One factor could be the stream of private donations funding the project. KCRW discusses how those payments and the access that comes with them puts one of Washington's biggest problems on display.

New York City’s mayoral race hits the ballot next week, along with a number of elections across the country. We’ll discuss what to watch for as a precursor to next year’s midterms, and answer one listener’s question about the future of the Voting Rights Act.

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's a battle playing out right now over who should control American universities.
0:05.0	We're going to bankrupt these universities.
0:10.0	In season one, we were guessing what was to come.
0:13.0	Now, we know.
0:15.0	We want nothing less than $500 million from Harvard.
0:19.0	From the Boston Globe and on the media, it's season two of The Harvard Plan.
0:23.9	This time, it really is personal.
0:26.9	Listen to On the Media wherever you get your podcasts.
0:32.0	Welcome to Left, right and center. I'm Susan Davis, your host this week, filling in for David Green.
0:37.2	The federal government shutdown has been dragging on for about a month, and with crucial deadlines approaching, are lawmakers feeling the pressure to end this?
0:44.6	700,000 federal workers continue to work without pay.
0:48.6	Flights around the country are being affected by staffing shortages among air traffic controllers. And this comes just a few weeks
0:55.1	before the busiest time of the year for air travel. If the shutdown rolls on past November 1st,
1:01.0	SNAP benefits, which is food assistance, for over 40 million Americans, many of them children,
1:07.0	will halt. So soon will paychecks for the military. And those health insurance premiums at the
1:12.7	center of the shutdown fight will increase in some cases doubling or tripling. The reality of losing
1:18.8	crucial food assistance will be felt all over the country. I am afraid for the children. I am afraid
1:26.3	for seniors who are older than me.
1:29.3	I'm afraid for people in general.
1:31.3	We need to eat.
1:33.3	People in my community, I have an extra neighbor.
1:36.3	She's raising two grandkids.
	...

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