Government Shutdown Impacting About 1.8 Million Pennsylvanians Receiving SNAP Benefits
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – With the federal government shutdown's impact being increasingly felt around the country, Sen. Bob Casey and other officials gathered at Philabundance to discuss its impact on Pennsylvanians.
"It's important to Pennsylvania because something on the order of 1.8 million Pennsylvanians receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits (SNAP)," said Casey.
"We're doing what we can at the local level to help the workers that are directly impacted by the shutdown," said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. "We encourage any furloughed or unpaid employees to visit one of our Philly centers to be screened for benefits they might be eligible for."
It's already the longest government shutdown in United States history, but President Donald Trump says it won't end until Congress agrees to build a border wall.
"The government remains shut down for one reason, and one reason only, the Democrats won't fund border security," said Trump.
At a farmer's convention in New Orleans, Trump said congressional Democrats are playing politics with national security.
"We're dealing against people who think that if they can stop me from building a wall, again, we've already done a lot of work, but they think that's a good thing for 2020," said Trump.
Democrats say the government will reopen as soon as the president stops insisting on $5.7 billion for a wall.
"What we don't want to do is waste taxpayer money on a vanity project that's ineffective, that the president said Mexico would pay for," said Sen. Tim Kaine.
Long delays in security lines are being seen at some airports.
On Monday, the Transportation Security Administration reported a spike in the number of screeners calling out sick.
But, TSA says its security standards and procedures have not been compromised.
