Judges could rule on the fate of Snap food aid as deadline nears for shutdown to end payments
Two judges could rule as soon as today on whether the Trump administration must replenish Snap food aid benefits for November despite the government shutdown, the Associated Press reports.
The grocery-buying ability for about one in eight Americans could hinge on the outcomes.
Even if a judge rules the benefits cannot be suspended for the first time in Snap’s 61-year history, many beneficiaries are likely to face delays in getting the debit cards they use to buy groceries reloaded. That process can take one to two weeks, so it’s probably too late to get funds on cards in the first days of November.
In a hearing in Boston yesterday on a legal challenge filed by Democratic officials from 25 states, one federal judge seemed skeptical of the administration’s argument that Snap benefits could be halted.
US district judge Indira Talwani told lawyers that if the government can’t afford to cover the cost, there’s a process to follow rather than simply suspending all benefits. “The steps involve finding an equitable way of reducing benefits,” said Talwani.
Talwani seemed to be leaning toward requiring the government to put billions of dollars in emergency funds toward Snap. That, she said, is her interpretation of what Congress intended when an agency’s funding runs out.
“If you don’t have money, you tighten your belt,” she said in court. “You are not going to make everyone drop dead because it’s a political game someplace.”
Government lawyers say a contingency fund containing some $5bn cannot legally be used to maintain Snap, a program that costs about $8bn a month. The states say it must be used for that purpose and point to more money available in a second federal account with around $23bn.
Talwani said her ruling would apply nationwide, not just in the states that are part of the challenge. That could defy the intentions of the US supreme court, which has limited the use of nationwide injunctions, though it hasn’t prohibited them.
A hearing on a second, similar challenge filed by a coalition of cities and non-profit organizations is scheduled before a Rhode Island-based federal judge for today.
Any ruling in either case is likely to face an appeal.
Share
Updated at 11.32 EDT
Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Trump denies that he is considering strikes within Venezuela
Donald Trump has denied that he is considering strikes inside Venezuela, even amid reports that his administration may expand its counter-drug campaign in the Caribbean.
The US has built up a large military presence in the Caribbean in recent months, with fighter jets, warships and thousands of troops. That presence will significantly expand in the coming weeks with the arrival of the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group.
In recent weeks, Trump has publicly said that his administration will carry out strikes against drug-related targets inside Venezuela.
But when asked today by reporters on Air Force One if media reports that he was considering strikes within Venezuela were true, Trump said: “No.”
Donald Trump speaks to reporters onboard Air Force One before departure to his Mar-a-Lago Florida residence for the weekend. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 12.47 EDT
Trump declines to rule out underground nuclear tests
Donald Trump reaffirmed today that the US would resume nuclear testing, and he did not answer directly when asked whether that would include the traditional underground nuclear tests common during the cold war.
“You’ll find out very soon, but we’re going to do some testing,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One as he flew to Palm Beach, Florida, when asked about underground nuclear tests.
“Other countries do it. If they’re doing to do it, we’re going to do it, okay?”
Donald Trump speaks to members of the media onboard Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Photograph: Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Yesterday the president said he had ordered the US military to immediately restart the process for testing nuclear weapons after a halt of 33 years, a move that appeared to be a message to rival nuclear powers China and Russia.
He made that surprise announcement on Truth Social while aboard his Marine One helicopter flying to meet Chinese president Xi Jinping for a trade-negotiating session in Busan, South Korea.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to nuclear-explosive testing, which would be carried out by the National Nuclear Security Administration, or flight testing of nuclear-capable missiles.
No nuclear power – other than North Korea most recently in 2017 – has carried out explosive nuclear testing in over 25 years.
Share
Updated at 12.47 EDT
Judges could rule on the fate of Snap food aid as deadline nears for shutdown to end payments
Two judges could rule as soon as today on whether the Trump administration must replenish Snap food aid benefits for November despite the government shutdown, the Associated Press reports.
The grocery-buying ability for about one in eight Americans could hinge on the outcomes.
Even if a judge rules the benefits cannot be suspended for the first time in Snap’s 61-year history, many beneficiaries are likely to face delays in getting the debit cards they use to buy groceries reloaded. That process can take one to two weeks, so it’s probably too late to get funds on cards in the first days of November.
In a hearing in Boston yesterday on a legal challenge filed by Democratic officials from 25 states, one federal judge seemed skeptical of the administration’s argument that Snap benefits could be halted.
US district judge Indira Talwani told lawyers that if the government can’t afford to cover the cost, there’s a process to follow rather than simply suspending all benefits. “The steps involve finding an equitable way of reducing benefits,” said Talwani.
Talwani seemed to be leaning toward requiring the government to put billions of dollars in emergency funds toward Snap. That, she said, is her interpretation of what Congress intended when an agency’s funding runs out.
“If you don’t have money, you tighten your belt,” she said in court. “You are not going to make everyone drop dead because it’s a political game someplace.”
Government lawyers say a contingency fund containing some $5bn cannot legally be used to maintain Snap, a program that costs about $8bn a month. The states say it must be used for that purpose and point to more money available in a second federal account with around $23bn.
Talwani said her ruling would apply nationwide, not just in the states that are part of the challenge. That could defy the intentions of the US supreme court, which has limited the use of nationwide injunctions, though it hasn’t prohibited them.
A hearing on a second, similar challenge filed by a coalition of cities and non-profit organizations is scheduled before a Rhode Island-based federal judge for today.
Any ruling in either case is likely to face an appeal.
Share
Updated at 11.32 EDT
Ohio panel adopts new US House districts that could help Republicans in next year’s election
A Republican-dominated Ohio panel has adopted new US House districts that could boost the GOP’s chances of winning two additional seats in next year’s elections and aid Donald Trump’s efforts to hold on to a slim congressional majority. You can view the map here.
The action by the Ohio Redistricting Commission comes as Trump has been urging Republican-led states to reshape their US House districts in an attempt to win more seats. But unlike in other states, Ohio’s redistricting was required by the state constitution because the current districts were adopted after the 2020 census without bipartisan support.
Ohio joins Texas, Missouri and North Carolina, where Republican lawmakers already have revised their congressional districts.
Democrats have been pushing back. California voters are deciding Tuesday on a redistricting plan passed by the Democratic-led legislature. And Democratic lawmakers in Virginia were voting Friday on a proposed constitutional amendment that, if adopted by voters, could allow lawmakers to redraw congressional districts in response to the actions elsewhere.
The political parties are in an intense battle, because Democrats need to gain just three seats in next year’s election to win control of the House and gain the power to impede Trump’s agenda.
Republicans already hold 10 of the 15 congressional seats in Ohio. The new map could boost Republican chances in districts currently held by Democratic representatives Greg Landsman in Cincinnati and Marcy Kaptur near Toledo.
Share
Updated at 11.34 EDT
What is the filibuster and why does Trump want to get rid of it?
Rachel Leingang
Donald Trump on Thursday suggested ending the filibuster to bring an end to the government shutdown, which has now passed one month with no signs of compromise on the horizon.
Both parties have previously defended or sought to dismantle the US Senate rule, depending on the moment and the contours of the debate.
“….BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAVE GONE STONE COLD ‘CRAZY,’ THE CHOICE IS CLEAR — INITIATE THE ‘NUCLEAR OPTION,’ GET RID OF THE FILIBUSTER AND, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” the US president wrote on Truth Social.
Need a refresher on the filibuster and why it matters? My colleague Rachel Leingang has this explainer on what you need to know:
Share
More than 40 million Americans will stop receiving food stamps on 1 November, as the US government shutdown enters its fifth week.
The Department of Agriculture says the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) will be suspended until Congress reopens the government. While the Trump administration argues the department does not have the legal authority to use a $5bn contingency fund to continue the aid, Democrats disagree, and two dozen states have sued the government to force the program to continue.
Meanwhile, Democrats are also refusing to vote to end the shutdown because health insurance costs are set to go up dramatically as insurers prepare for a lapse in subsidies. Senate Democrats are demanding that any short-term government funding deal include an extension of the enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans, while Trump and the Republicans have said they will not negotiate until the government is back up and running. Extending the subsidies would require $350bn in federal spending over the coming decade.
We’d like to hear from Americans who are about to lose Snap food assistance due to the shutdown, as well as from people whose healthcare may become unaffordable due to rising premiums. Have you received any notices or paperwork that your insurance will change soon? Tell us using the link below:
Share
Neither agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins nor House speaker Mike Johnson commented on the issue Democrats have been holding the government closed in order to address: health insurance premiums that will double, triple or more for people using healthcare insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act.
Instead, Johnson attributed the shutdown to a call for a “leftwing, radical agenda”.
Share
Updated at 10.48 EDT
Agriculture secretary rejects calls to use alternative funding for food stamps program
Name-checking New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and his “socialist rhetoric,” US secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins decried Senate Democrats who are holding out on opening the government.
Rollins described the shutdown as “disguising dereliction of duty, all to favor illegal aliens and other far left policies”.
The irony of attacking Democrats for supporting “socialist policies” while arguing in support of a public benefit for nutrition support went unremarked upon.
She described the call for the agriculture department to use alternative funding to cover Snap – as Donald Trump has drawn on to cover salaries for soldiers and other employees – as “a lie” and legally impossible.
Share
Updated at 11.31 EDT
Mike Johnson seeks to blame Democrats for Americans losing food benefits
US House speaker Mike Johnson spoke about millions of families suffering “because of Snap benefits drying up” during the government shutdown, while offering “a word of sincere gratitude” to millions of federal workers who have showed up without pay, “not knowing when or if their next paycheck will be delivered”.
“We just want to say thank you for your diligence … even though Democrats are withholding your paycheck. They are shameless in doing so.”
Johnson laid blame for the shutdown on Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats choosing not to approve a continuing resolution on funding the government. “The pain of the people is their political lever,” he said. “Republicans have done their part.”
Share
Updated at 10.14 EDT
US House speaker Mike Johnson will hold a press conference at 10am ET to discuss the ongoing federal government shutdown.
You can watch the briefing here.
Share
Updated at 09.57 EDT
