Oregon lawmakers trade blame for frozen SNAP benefits

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are playing the blame game when it comes to the federal government shutdown.

KOIN 6 News Political Director Ken Boddie received reactions from two congressmen. Congressman Cliff Bentz, the only Republican in the Oregon delegation, and Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley shared their differing views on the stalemate and how it can come to an end.

Merkley said 210,000 Oregon children and 130,000 Oregon seniors will see a pause in their SNAP benefits because of the government shutdown. More than 700,000 Oregonians will be affected overall.

Merkley said the president is playing politics with Americans’ health by not activating a $5 billion contingency fund or using tariff revenue to fill the gap.

“I mean, who in the United States says, ‘I’m going to make sure children go hungry for a month as a political tactic.’ Who says that except this president in this time? It’s unethical, it’s immoral,  it’s illegal, and we’re here to say, ‘hell no,’” Merkley said.

“It takes 60 votes to get something done in the Senate. We have 53 Republicans. The Democrats have the power to stop anything, without shutting down the government. Why are they shutting down the government? What they’re doing is saying, ‘If you don’t do it our way, we’re just going to close down the government and make a lot of people suffer,’” Bentz said.

Democrats say they’re holding out on the continuing resolution to preserve health care subsidies that would be eliminated if it passes. Those tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, 26 state attorneys general, including Oregon’s Dan Rayfield, are suing the Trump administration to release the SNAP benefits.

The bottom line, 42 million Americans, overall, stand to lose their food assistance benefits come November 1, no matter who’s to blame.