They also plan to introduce legislation to pay for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and extend funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, which provides essential nutrition assistance for lower income mothers.

The developments reveal Democrats are looking for a way to ease the impact of the four-week shutdown on federal workers who are struggling to pay their daily expenses and on lower income Americans who may soon run out of food.

Publicly, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and his leadership team are sticking to their arguments