Let’s start with the good news: Two federal judges ruled Friday afternoon that the Trump administrationmust distribute benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, during the ongoing government shutdown. About 42 million Americans living on low incomes, or 1 in 8 people, get benefits from SNAP, also known as food stamps, which literally helps people not starve. That number includes millions of people with jobs that pay them so little that they still qualify—even as their employers rake in billions. (Looking at you, Wal-Mart and Amazon.) The average SNAP benefit is $350 per month.
The Trump administration recently claimed that it had to freeze SNAP payments to states because the government was out of money, due to the shutdown, which began on October 1. They argued that a pool of SNAP contingency funds with $5 billion sitting in it could only be used for emergencies, like naturaldisasters. But in a now-deleted shutdown plan dated September 3o, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would use the contingency funds to keep SNAP running during a shutdown. But on October 10, the USDA sent a letter to states warning them that the program would run out of money on November 1.
States and cities filed separate lawsuits in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and today, both judges said the White House has to spend the money set aside for this purpose. These freaks will probably appeal the rulings, but for now, money will get sent out.
Now let’s talk about the optics of it all. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a closed-door meeting this week that letting SNAP funds lapse and having people go hungry was “sadly” what they had to do to put pressure on Democrats to vote to reopen the government. Never mind that Johnson has kept House members away fromWashington, D.C. for nearly seven weeks to try and force Senate Democrats to approve a GOP funding proposal rather than actually negotiating. That proposal, for what it’s worth, would effectively kick millions of people off their Affordable Care Act health insurance plans because it doesn’t extend the enhanced tax credits currently set to expire on December 31. People will either pay thousands more in premiums for the year, or they’ll go without insurance—which will raise costs for everyone else.
So, it certainly wasn’t a good look that, in the weeks and days leading up to Saturday’s SNAP deadline, President Donald Trump was doing wannabe king shit. He sent $20 billion to bail out the government of Argentina, bulldozed the White House’sEast Wing so he could build a (privately but corruptly funded) 90,000-square-foot ballroom, and accepted a gold replica crown during a visit to South Korea. His administration has also doled out bonuses of up to $50,000 for new ICEagents to terrorize nonwhite people and spent $172 million on private jets for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
President Donald J. Trump is honored by South Korea with a gold crown and the Grand Order of Mugunghwa—the nation's highest civilian award and the first time it has been given to an American president.
It’s never a good time to do these things, but certainly not when you’re on the verge of sending even more people to food banks—which, yes, had been preparing for an influx if SNAP was paused. Some local police in California were reportedly planning to increase grocery store patrols in anticipation of theft.
Plus, polls show that voters are blaming Republicans for the shutdown, which makes sense as they *checks notes* control all three branches of government. ABC News summarized the results of its recent poll: “Nearly half of Americans, 45%, say Trump and congressional Republicans are responsible for the shutdown, while 33% say congressional Democrats are responsible and another 22% are not sure.” That topline number of those who blame the GOP includes 46% of Independents—yikes. Johnson’s response? He said on Fox News today that he’s “not buying” such polls.
Meanwhile, some GOP lawmakers are blaming poor people for simply not budgeting better. Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) suggested Thursday that SNAP recipients were irresponsible for not stockpiling food, as if this is “extra” grocery money and not funds people spend on food they will eat within the next 30 days—if the money even lasts that long.
Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana blames SNAP recipients for not stockpiling a month's worth of food.He ends his tweet with "stop smoking crack."
As for when the shutdown will actually end, Trump is now urging Republicans to end the Senate filibuster that requires 60 votes for most legislation. If they go for it, that means bills would only need 50 votes to pass. Republicans have 53 Senators, and Vice President JD Vance can slither in to break any ties.
Another factor, the Associated Press reported, is that some lawmakers may be waiting until after Tuesday’s elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City, plus the redistricting ballot measure in California (vote yes for god’s sake), in order to “assess their political standing with the voters.” Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) suggested that he put some weight in that idea, saying, “I hope that it frees people up to move forward with opening the government.”
If you needed any more reason to vote, there it is: Send Republicans running to make a deal.
More barf:
A federal grand jury in Florida will reportedly convene in January to decide whether to bring criminal charges against top Democratic figures for a “conspiracy” against Trump. Seems fine! [ABC News]
Top administration officials, including Stephen Miller, Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, and Marco Rubio, have all recently moved into Washington-area military housing because, they say, they need more protection from protestors. Not worried at all about what this could portend! [The Atlantic]
DHS is moving to replace some ICE leaders with officials from Customs and Border Patrol because the administration wants more daily immigration arrests and CBP uses “more aggressive tactics.” [NBC News]
The Trump administration will slash the number of refugees it admits annually from 125,000 to just 7,500, and they will be mostly…white South Africans. [Associated Press]
The Trump administration killed 14 more people in illegal boat strikes, bringing the total this year to 57 that we know of. [New York Times]
The Justice Department suspended two U.S. attorneys after they described the January 6 attack as being carried out by a “mob.” [Washington Post]
FBI Director Kash Patel, 45, appears to have used a government jet to go on a date with his 26-year-old country singer girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins. [New Republic]
Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent says he feels the pain of other countries not buying U.S. soybeans due to tariffs because he’s “actually a soybean farmer.” Bessent, who is worth around $600 million, actually owns farmland on which other people grow soybeans. [CNBC]
Following a recent visit to CNN and making some sense, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) will appear on The View on Tuesday. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also called her “very liberal.” She’s running for president, isn’t she? [CNN]
This has been your Friday Barf Bag, thanks for reading!
