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Food stamp cliff is latest shutdown flashpoint

The battle over food stamps has emerged as the latest flashpoint in the fierce partisan clash over government spending, The Hill’s Mike Lillis reports.

© Nam Y. Huh, The Associated Press

The Trump administration warns the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps feed more than 40 million people, will start to run out of funds Nov. 1.

Administration officials and congressional Republicans say Democrats, by opposing the GOP’s stopgap spending bill, are threatening undue harm to some of the nation’s poorest people. At least two dozen states are planning to cut off coverage when the funding expires.

A big question looming over the debate remains how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency that

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