As the government shutdown stretches into its sixth week, the longest in U.S. history, citizens and lawmakers are concerned about the ongoing lapse of funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Air travel has also been impacted amid the shutdown, with air traffic being reduced in airports across the country due to a shortage of staff exacerbated by not being paid.
In an interview with Kristen Welker on NBC News’ Meet the Press Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, and Senator James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, expressed hope on Sunday that the shutdown would be resolved before Thanksgiving.
Why It Matters
With no deal reached as of yet, the consequences of the shutdown are growing—air travel disruptions threaten to upend holiday travel plans, federal employees continue to work without pay, and the legal status of SNAP benefits remain in limbo. Approximately 42 million Americans rely on monthly SNAP benefits, with advocates warning that any interruptions or reductions in payments could place significant financial strain on households that depend on the program.
These cascading effects are intensifying pressure on lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to resolve the standoff, which began over health care subsidy disputes, and reopen the federal government.
What To Know
The government shutdown originated from a Republican-backed funding bill that omitted renewals for health care tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), resulting in a standoff with Democrats who refused to support a plan without those subsidies.
Senate Republicans did not bring a key funding bill to a vote Friday as leaders said support was lacking for its passage. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, stated the Senate would remain in session until a breakthrough is reached.
Both chambers must pass funding legislation for President Donald Trump to sign and officially end the closure.
When asked by Welker on Sunday if a deal would be reached by Thanksgiving, Jeffries replied, “I hope so.”
“We need to resolve this immediately,” he said. “Donald Trump needs to get off the golf course and get back to the negotiating table. He spent more time golfing over the last several weeks than he has talking to Democrats who represent half the country as part of an effort to find a bipartisan path forward. We also know that House Republicans have literally canceled votes for the last six weeks. They’ve been on vacation, and they have no plans to return next week. We’ll be in Washington as House Democrats ready, willing, and able to reopen the government to make life better for the American people and to address the health care crisis that has been devastating the country.
Lankford, meanwhile, expressed the same sentiments on Sunday when asked by Welker if he thought things would be resolved by Thanksgiving, saying, “Oh, yes. I do. And it absolutely needs to. It needs to be open today if we can get it open.”
“We put out a proposal literally 14 times to say, ‘Let’s open it today. Let’s keep negotiating,'” he explained.
The senator said that Trump and Vice President JD Vance have agreed to talk about health care when the government is reopened.
“President Trump came out within the first week and said, ‘If you want to talk about health care, we’ll talk about health care as soon as the government is open.’ Vice President Vance came forward, ‘We’ll talk about health care as soon as the government’s open. We’re not going to negotiate while the government’s shut down,’ which is the exact same position we’ve been in and Democrats were in before during the shutdown when Republicans closed down the government,” Lankford said.
Government Shutdown Impacts
The Trump administration attempted to restart SNAP payments at reduced levels, but a Rhode Island federal judge ordered a restoration of full benefits.
Late Friday night, liberal Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in her role as circuit justice for the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted the use of a separate Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition account that would fund SNAP benefits while the appeals court considers the administration’s request to repeal the lower court’s order.
The shutdown isn’t just impacting plates, it has also already disrupted travel throughout the country, as ongoing staffing shortages exacerbated by lack of pay for air traffic controllers have forced the Trump administration to reduce flights by up to 10 percent at over 40 major airports.
With 1,500 flights were canceled and over 6,500 delayed on Saturday alone, officials and travel analysts warned that disruptions are likely to worsen if the shutdown continues into Thanksgiving week—one of the busiest travel times of the year.
“I used to have about four controllers retire a day before the shutdown,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “I’m now up to 15 to 20 a day that are retiring. It’s going to be harder for me to come back after the shutdown and have more controllers controlling the airspace. This is going live on in air travel well beyond the timeframe this government opens back up.”
Duffy also said on Sunday that “the two weeks before Thanksgiving, you’re going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle.”
“We have a number of people who want to get home for the holidays, they want to see their family, they want to celebrate this great American holiday,” he added. “Listen, many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane.”
What People Are Saying
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, wrote in a post on X Saturday: ‘The blast radius of the Republican shutdown grows even larger This morning, tens of millions of Americans remain in limbo as the Trump admin continues its crusade against SNAP For Trump to go all the way to the Supreme Court just to get out of having to pay SNAP benefits is pathological levels of vindictiveness This crisis is in the administration’s hands.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNN on Friday when asked if the flight reductions would spill into the upcoming holiday: “If the government opens on day one, will I see an immediate response from controllers? No, the union is telling me it’s going to take time to get them all back in. I don’t wish this was the circumstance in which I was dealing with. I imagine, as we see the data change and more controllers come to work, we are as quickly as possible going to take these restrictions away.”
Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, wrote on X on Friday: “The Trump administration will go to any length—including appeal to the highest court in the land—if it means they can cut off food for hungry people. What is wrong with them?”
What Happens Next?
Even if an agreement is reached promptly, both chambers must approve the bill and Trump must sign it before government operations can return to normal.
In the event of a delayed resolution, air travel disruptions, reduced social services, and food aid uncertainty could persist through Thanksgiving and potentially beyond.