WASHINGTON – As the government shutdown entered Day 26 on Sunday, many of the people with the power to solve the funding crisis – the consequences of which are growing more intense for millions of Americans with each passing day – were nowhere in sight in the nation's capital.
President Donald Trump embarked on a six-day international trip just as the weekend began, after many lawmakers had already left town. Members of Congress, are entrenched in disagreements over health care policy, with seemingly no bipartisan agreement on the horizon.
Trump's visit to Asia, where he will swing through Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, has taken him far away from the stalemate at home, preventing him from being a part of any negotiations to reopen the government.
In the meantime, the realities of the shutdown are worsening. Key federal health data is stalled with flu season approaching. The government has warned of a holiday travel meltdown.
In less than a week, funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will start to run out for the more than 40 million low-income people enrolled to receive the benefits. In preparation for that cliff, tribal leaders in Montana have started culling bison herds to feed their community members on one reservation whose population is disproportionately food insecure.
