Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...WASHINGTON — Crucial food assistance for about 6.7 million low-income Americans has been put in jeopardy by a federal government shutdown that the deeply divided U.S. Congress shows no signs of resolving swiftly. “A prolonged federal shutdown that lasts longer than one week is going to start to put babies and young children at risk,” Machell said. There are no votes expected in Congress on Thursday, which ensures the shutdown will last at least another day. Before the shutdown, that budget request was ignored by the Senate as it approved full WIC funding in the 2026 agriculture funding bill, but that has not become law. Senator John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican who oversees agriculture funding, said the USDA in a Wednesday briefing shared its concerns that WIC funding could run short by October 15 and that the agency is looking into other funding provisions.