Five weeks into a government shutdown, with food benefits for 42 million Americans hanging in the balance, JD Vance stepped to the mic and did not pretend otherwise. The worst is still coming.
When asked about the impact on SNAP food benefits, he was frank about it. “The American people are already suffering, and the suffering is going to get a lot worse,” he said, before spending the rest of his answer praising Trump for keeping things tolerable.
“If you go back to previous government shutdowns, what has happened is that sometimes the president has tried to make the shutdown as painful as possible on the American people,” Vance said. “I give the president of the United States great credit, and the entire team, for trying to make this as painless as possible.”
The painful part, according to Vance, belongs to someone else entirely.
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The standoff centers on DHS funding and whether immigration raids should require judicial warrants. Senate Republicans explored a possible compromise on Tuesday, but Senator John Hoeven confirmed it would leave out the warrant requirement Democrats have been demanding. Whether that satisfies enough lawmakers to reopen the government remains unclear.
The consequences are stacking up fast.
SNAP benefits for March were paid, but April funding is uncertain. If the shutdown stretches past late March, benefits could stop for the 42 million Americans who depend on them, hitting low-income families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities hardest. Aviation is already feeling it too, with FAA staffing running below safe operating levels at multiple facilities, causing delays and cancellations at major airports nationwide.
What gave Vance’s remarks their particular edge was everything happening around them. The same administration warning Americans about food benefit disruptions has spent billions on an Iran war now in its fourth week. Gas is up more than a dollar a gallon since February 28, and 13 Americans are dead.
“The unfortunate reality, and we’re starting to see this with our aviation industry, we’re going to find out the hard way with SNAP benefits,” Vance said. “Not because the president of the United States has failed to make the shutdown painless, he’s tried to do everything that he can to make it as un-painless as possible. The reason that pain is coming and the reason it’s building is because we’re not passing a clean bill to reopen the government.”
JD Vance to Americans: “The suffering is going to get a lot worse.” @atrupar (2025)pic.twitter.com/RwlAoQX4tc
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) March 24, 2026
Democrats see it differently. They insist any bill reopening the government must include warrant requirements for immigration raids. Republicans have made clear that concession is off the table. Both sides are pointing fingers while the clock ticks down on April’s food benefits.
Featured image via X screengrab
