A looming SNAP funding lapse is ramping up pressure to end the shutdown

The risk of many states potentially running out of SNAP funding could be a new pressure point that pushes lawmakers to end the government shutdown.

Top Democrats on Capitol Hill told Scripps News Monday that the looming expiration of food assistance for millions of their constituents may cause them to rethink their shutdown strategy.

So far, Democrats have kept up their fight to preserve Affordable Care Act subsidies, which expire at the end of this year. Americans will see the expected costs of those expirations when they begin open enrollment for healthcare at the beginning of November.

Democrats had hoped to reach some sort of agreement before reopening the government on expanding these subsidies, preventing them from expiring, and keeping the cost of health care lower for many Ameri