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October 30, 2025
With SNAP benefits set to halt, Thune says he can't clarify Trump's plan to fund program
(ABC News) With critical food assistance benefits set to run out in just a few days, Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday weighed in on President Donald Trump's comment that his administration may find a solution to help fund the program, as lawmakers appear sympathetic, but still entrenched. The Department of Agriculture said earlier this week that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, which serve roughly 42 million low-income Americans, will not be issued on Nov. 1 amid the ongoing government shutdown.
Go to discussionDemocrats seize on food stamp funding as latest rallying cry
(Roll Call) A funding lapse for food stamps, set to hit next week, became a new focus for Democrats on Wednesday as the partial government shutdown enters its fifth week with no resolution in sight. In a rare diversion from their single-minded focus on extending expiring health insurance subsidies, Senate Democrats introduced legislation to continue funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, during the shutdown. And in a series of news conferences, they accused the Trump administration of “weaponizing hunger” by refusing to tap a contingency fund to pay SNAP benefits for more than 41 million Americans who depend on food assistance.
Go to discussionHow will the dismantling of USAID affect U.S. relief efforts in Jamaica? Hint: It's another Trump disaster.
(NPR) USAID was the lead federal agency coordinating disaster response but no longer exists. The agency had a staff of about 800 people trained in disaster relief and a road map for handling disasters like Melissa. For disasters like this epic hurricane, preparations would have started months in advance. "USAID would have been working with governments and embassies in the region on preparing for hurricane season," says Sarah Charles, who led USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance during the Biden administration.
Go to discussionFederal shutdown could cost US economy up to $14 billion
(Reuters) The federal government shutdown could cost the U.S. economy between $7 billion and $14 billion, shaving up to 2% from gross domestic product in the fourth quarter due to the lapse in government spending, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday. The partial shutdown was in its 29th day on Wednesday with no end in sight, as Senate Republicans called on Democrats to support a stopgap measure to fund federal agencies through November 21 and Democrats demanded negotiations to extend expiring federal tax credits to help Americans purchase private health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
Go to discussionKeystone Kash Accused of Using $60M FBI Jet for Date Night
(Daily Beast) Public flight logs for Patel’s plane, N708JH, reveal the plane landing at Pennsylvania’s State College Airport on Oct. 25—the day of the RAF event—at 5:40 PM EST. It took off from the same airport at 8:03 PM EST and landed in Nashville at 8:28 PM CDT. It left the next morning at 9:37 AM CDT for San Angelo, Texas for unknown reasons. Patel’s date night was first spotted by Kyle Seraphin, a MAGA former FBI agent turned FBI-critical podcaster. “We’re in the middle of government shutdown where they’re not even gonna pay all of the employees that work for the agency that this guy heads,” said Seraphin on his Monday episode of The Kyle Seraphin Show. “And this guy is jetting off to hang out with his girlfriend in Nashville on our dime?”
Go to discussion'Indefensible!' Fury erupts as Trump shuts Dems out of key military briefing
(Raw Story) Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) issued a statement on Wednesday evening, tearing into the Trump administration for holding a briefing with the Senate on the recent military strikes on suspected narcotics smuggling boats in the Caribbean — but only inviting Republican senators. "Shutting Democrats out of a briefing on U.S. military strikes and withholding the legal justification for those strikes from half the Senate is indefensible and dangerous," stated Warner. "Decisions about the use of American military force are not campaign strategy sessions, and they are not the private property of one political party."
Go to discussionThree-star general pushed out amid tensions with Hegseth
(CNN) A three-star general serving on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff has been pushed out of his position following months of sustained tensions with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, according to people familiar with the matter. The general’s stalled promotion also contributed to his early retirement, the sources said. Lt. Gen. Joe McGee, the director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy on the Joint Staff, left his position earlier this month, the sources said. They added that McGee had frequently “pushed back” against Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine on issues ranging from Russia and Ukraine to military operations in the Caribbean.
Go to discussionICE Apprehension of US Citizens Derided as 'Kavanaugh Stops'
(Bloomberg Law) Leonardo Garcia Venegas was working at a construction site in Alabama in May when immigration agents tackled him to the ground as he said, “I’m a citizen.” Lawyers for Garcia Venegas said he was handcuffed and held for over an hour after agents dismissed the driver’s license in his pocket issued only to legal residents as a fake. A few weeks later, he was detained again for about 30 minutes at another construction site 20 miles away. There’s a shorthand circulating on the left for this kind of encounter: “Kavanaugh Stops.”
Go to discussionState police slam Trump's ICE agents after tear gas hits officers
(Raw Story) Oregon state police are shredding President Donald Trump's ICE agents after officers "suffered exposure" from tear gas during a protest outside an ICE facility in Portland earlier this month. Judge Karin Immergut said she would decide on whether to hold the government in contempt and determine whether the government violated a temporary restraining order when officials refused to pause National Guard soldiers going into Portland, Oregon. New evidence was presented in court on Wednesday about the federal government firing on local law enforcement with pepper balls and chemical gas.
Go to discussionHealth Secretary Kennedy says there's 'not sufficient' proof to show Tylenol causes autism
(USA Today) Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Oct. 29 that he does not have "sufficient" evidence to link Tylenol to autism, more than a month after the White House discouraged the medicine's use by pregnant women and young children. Evidence does not show that Kenvue's pain medicine Tylenol definitively causes autism but that it should still be used cautiously, President Donald Trump's top health official told reporters. Last month the president said U.S. health officials would recommend limiting Tylenol's use.
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