GOP Rep Who Blocked Relief for Formula Shortage Suddenly Worried About Moms Getting Formula

Republicans continue to twist the narrative of this government shutdown.

By Danielle Han  |  October 15, 2025 | 3:10pm
Photo: Screenshot Politics
GOP Rep Who Blocked Relief for Formula Shortage Suddenly Worried About Moms Getting Formula

After the Senate rejected another funding measure to reopen the government on Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders hosted a press conference to continue pinning the blame on Democrats. Unsurprisingly, Johnson couldn’t last an hour without embarrassing himself, which included dramatically rolling his eyes when asked by a reporter about the Epstein files. But Republican Conference Chair Rep. Lisa McClain (D-Mich.) may have one-upped him.

“The Republicans voted to keep this government open,” McClain said. “[Democrats would] rather please their radical base than put America first. Listen, I’m grateful to President Trump for finding a way to keep milk flowing to moms and babies through the WIC, and paychecks going to our troops.”

Last week, the Trump administration said it’d use tariff revenue to send $300 million to the WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), which serves six million low-income mothers and children, and was at risk of running out of funds during the shutdown.

But it’s particularly interesting that McClain chose to highlight the WIC,  since she voted against the Infant Formula Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022 (H.R. 7790). The bill was proposed to provide $28 million in emergency funding to the FDA during a baby formula shortage to both boost supply and prevent unsafe products from flooding the market. Johnson, along with 190 other Republicans, also voted against it.

At the time, Republicans were criticized for politicizing the issue and purposely blocking the bill to “hold the FDA accountable” and punish the Biden administration, whom they blamed for the shortage in the first place.

McClain also obviously supported Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill, which passed earlier this year and made massive cuts to WIC, as well as some of the worst-ever cuts to SNAP (which served more than 41 million Americans in 2024). So Republicans are now just twisting the narrative and pretending like it hasn’t been them trying to cut crucial programs for the entirety of 2025. 

And despite McClain’s claim, roughly 1.3 million active-duty military members could be missing a paycheck on Wednesday— though Trump promised otherwise. Over the weekend, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “I am using my authority, as Commander in Chief, to direct our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th.” But to reappropriate funds without the support of Congress (who, of course, is out of office) is supposed to be illegal. According to an unnamed Pentagon official who spoke to NPR, the Defense Department plans to uphold Trump’s promise and use $8 billion of its research and development funding to pay service members.

Speaking to reporters after the Senate turned down Tuesday’s vote—for the eighth time—Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said: “Democrats have made it very clear—day in and day out—we want to open the government and have a serious negotiation to fix the health care premium crisis. [Republicans] won’t even sit down and talk with Democrats about it.” McClain, on the contrary, says “there’s nothing to negotiate.” 

Wednesday marks 15 days into the government shutdown, which—in the history of 21 shutdowns—has only been surpassed four times. (The last shutdown, which was also under Trump, was the longest and lasted 35 days.) And as long as Republicans refuse to issue a stopgap that would prevent millions of Americans from losing access to health care, we’re stuck in this gridlock. 

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