Mitch McConnell is reportedly opposing free school lunches: ‘Kids are going to have less on their plates,’ Biden’s agriculture secretary says – By Ayelet Sheffey (Insider) / March 8, 2022
- The Washington Post reported Mitch McConnell is opposing a free school lunch program extension.
- This comes as Congress is deciding what to include in the upcoming government funding package.
- 30 million children rely on the pandemic-era free school lunch program that expires in June.
Congress is once again racing against the clock to fund the government, and it’s looking like meals for children at school could get axed from the budget.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that some Republican lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, are opposing the inclusion of a pandemic-era free school lunch measure in the government funding package, according to sources familiar. Congress has until midnight on Friday to pass a package to keep the government funded and avoid a federal shutdown, and while Democrats support extending some pandemic-related federal programs in the package, a Republican leadership aide told the Post further extensions of expiring programs would be too costly.
“This weekend, I’ve made a request to speak to Leader McConnell and Leader McCarthy,” US Department of Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack told the Post. “Now, I realize that they’ve got a lot on their plate. But the failure of Republicans to respond to this means that kids are going to have less on their plates. And there’s no reason for this. There’s no reason for this.”
CONTINUE > https://www.yahoo.com/news/mitch-mcconnell-reportedly-opposing-free-155239673.html
