A different situation this year

This week, we celebrated World Food Day. I've spent much of my career dedicated to eradicating hunger from our country, so I usually take this opportunity to promote legislation that I'm working on or encourage people to make a donation to their local food bank.

But I would be remiss if I didn't first say something about the recent and unprecedented GOP attacks on food assistance and other programs that allow families to put food on the table.

We are over 2 weeks into a government shutdown created by Donald Trump and his cronies in Congress. But amongst the litany of problems the Republicans have caused is the lack of appropriated funds. Without a hard budget or Continuing Resolution, food assistance programs like SNAP and WIC are forced to operate using contingency funds, which are only meant to bridge small gaps in funding (days, not weeks).

The programs have received some temporary funding through October, but with each passing day, the risk that they run out of money grows ever larger.

With Republicans digging their heels in, we aren't any closer to reaching an agreement to open the government and making sure that children and families across the country have access to the nutritional support they need. Millions of Americans are waiting for Speaker Johnson and his majority to stop playing games and get back to work on our country's most pressing issues.

It's up to them, but I'll keep fighting for these programs that Americans rely on. Someone has to.

More soon,

Jim McGovern