Bash presses Johnson on shutdown and food aid | JQJO

CNN’s Dana Bash confronted House Speaker Mike Johnson over the shutdown’s looming hit to food assistance, asking why he’d reject a partial funding deal to reopen Agriculture. Johnson dismissed it as a stunt, blamed Democratic leaders for prolonging “pain,” and insisted only fully reopening the government is acceptable. The shutdown followed Republicans voting down a Democratic bill on Oct. 1; SNAP benefits could lapse Saturday for more than 20 million households. Johnson disputed using contingency funds as unauthorized by Congress. Meanwhile, Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration over benefits denied to 22 million households.