Live updates on the government shutdown as the impasse enters its fifth week

The Senate is not currently scheduled to vote on the House-passed measure to reopen the government today.

The Senate will convene at 10 a.m. for a procedural vote on a measure to repeal the Biden administration’s rule on the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, along with a vote on judicial confirmation, according to Majority Whip John Barrasso’s office.

At 2:15 p.m., the Senate will vote to repeal the rule regarding the barred owl management strategy in western states.

“More roll call votes are expected during Wednesday’s Senate session,” the notice noted.

The Trump administration does not have the legal authority to keep food aid flowing during the government shutdown, as the federal program that helps more than 40 million Americans pay for groceries is set to halt payments on Saturday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told CBS News on Tuesday.

Rollins responded to calls to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, funded by tapping a $5 billion emergency fund, arguing that the administration does not have the legal authority to use that money. She also noted that fully funding SNAP would cost about $9.2 billion next month.

“We’re trying to follow the law here,” she told CBS News senior correspondent Ed O’Keefe on “The Takeout.” “We’ve been using bandages and tape for the last month. And like we said, there won’t be November 1st.”

Asked why the administration did not seek money from other sources, given that it continued to pay military personnel and FBI employees, Rollins noted that military payroll funds come in part from a private donor.

The administration’s position has drawn strong opposition from Democrats, who have urged the Agriculture Department to withdraw its emergency funding.

Rollins responded by pressuring Democrats to vote to reopen the government.

“I find it very rich when people say that President Trump or our administration is playing politics with people’s hunger,” Rollins said.

World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, is feeding furloughed federal workers in Washington, D.C., during the shutdown, a hot lunch until the impasse ends. On Wednesday, they will open a second distribution at Navy Memorial Plaza, in addition to the Washington Canal Park location. Both will operate from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m

Senate Majority Leader John Thune poured cold water on efforts to increase individual bills to pay certain groups of federal workers or fund programs like SNAP during the shutdown on Tuesday, as Democrats announced they would introduce legislation to fund the food assistance program.

“This piecemeal approach, where you do once here, once there to make it seem more politically acceptable to someone or less painful, that’s the wrong way to do it,” Thune said, urging that the simple way to solve the problem is to approve the House-passed measure to fund the government through November 21.

Moments later, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that Senate Democrats would introduce a bill to fund SNAP, after the Agriculture Department said federal food aid would not go out on November 1. He also said the bill would ensure funding for the Women, Infants and Children Program, known as WIC.

The New York Democrat said the measure would have “broad, if not universal, support” among Democrats. But whether it will be put to a vote or gain support from Republicans has remained unclear.

The developments on narrower bills to pay workers or fund programs come as Republican efforts to advance a House-passed measure to reopen the government fell short of the required 60 votes 13 times. Despite their efforts to gain new support from Democrats, the bill has not received any new support since before the shutdown began.