WASHINGTON —

The government shutdown has tied for the longest in American history . There are few conversations between Democrats and Republicans to reopen the government, which is impacting millions of Americans who are missing federal food assistance and facing skyrocketing health care insurance costs. Advertisement

Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed hope on Monday, saying he was "optimistic" the Senate could vote to reopen the government by the end of the week.

Thune also said, "If we don’t start seeing some progress or some evidence of that by at least the middle of this week, it's hard to see how we would finish anything by the end of the week."

The pressure is increasing after the Department of Agriculture announced it could no longer fund SNAP benefits , which ser

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