The USDA said reserve funds cannot be used to pay SNAP benefits, contradicting previous guidance that said funds were available.
Airports experience flight delays and staff shortages during closure
Major airports are experiencing staffing shortages as TSA and air traffic controllers work without pay during the government shutdown.
- Roughly 42 million people will lose their SNAP benefits when funds run out in November due to the government shutdown.
- “The bottom line is that the wells are dry,” the Department of Agriculture said in a notice on its website.
- The nation’s largest federal employee union called on lawmakers to end the government shutdown by passing a “clean” Republican-backed resolution that does not extend health care benefits.
- Senate Democrats are refusing to advance short-term government funding measures until Republicans restore deep cuts to Obamacare.
WASHINGTON – Governors and attorneys general from 25 states have filed a lawsuit to block the White House from ending Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits on November 1, as the government shutdown enters its 28th day.
The lawsuit, filed in Boston on Tuesday, Oct. 28, says the impending cutoff of food aid is “unlawful, arbitrary and capricious.”
The USDA said in a recent memo that reserve funds cannot be used to pay for SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps, contradicting previous guidance that said the funds were available “in the event of a mid-year lapse in the fiscal year.” Approximately 42 million Americans will lose their SNAP benefits.
“Ultimately, the well has run dry,” the ministry said on its website. “Right now, no benefits will be paid on November 1st. We’re nearing a tipping point for Senate Democrats.”
Democrats accused President Donald Trump’s administration of choosing to cut food stamps when it was unnecessary. “SNAP is one of our nation’s most effective tools to fight hunger, and the Department of Agriculture has the funding to keep it going,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “This administration cannot afford to abandon families who rely on SNAP, or food stamps, as a lifeline.”
Senate Democrats are refusing to move forward on short-term government funding measures until Republicans agree to reinstate deep cuts to Obamacare.
The lawsuit alleges that the suspension of SNAP benefits is avoidable and arbitrary, and is being implemented in violation of the Food and Nutrition Act, which requires that “assistance under this program be provided to all eligible households.”
The plaintiffs, led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, California, Arizona, and Minnesota, argue that this would be the first time in the SNAP program’s 60-year history that monthly food assistance payments have been withheld as a result of the appropriations lapse.
States and the District of Columbia asked the judge to act quickly to force the Department of Agriculture to use available emergency funds for November’s SNAP benefits and ensure that millions of families do not lose access to food assistance in the coming days.
“Millions of Americans are going hungry because the federal government has withheld the food assistance it is legally obligated to provide,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
– Joey Garrison, Reuters
Democratic attorneys general and governors from 25 states sued the Trump administration Tuesday to block the White House from ending Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits on Nov. 1 amid the federal government shutdown.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, comes after the Department of Agriculture said in a recent memo that reserve funds cannot be used to pay for SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps. Approximately 42 million Americans will lose their SNAP benefits
The Trump administration’s position contradicts previous USDA guidance that said the funds would be available “in the event of a mid-year lapse in the fiscal year.”
Johnson said he believes there is no real inclination for Trump to defy the Constitution and run for a third term.
“We have the 22nd Amendment,” he told reporters. “I think the president knows, and the president and I have talked about the constraints of the Constitution.”
The comments come after former West Wing aide Steve Bannon recently suggested to news outlet The Economist that Trump “plans” to run for the White House again in 2028. The constitution prohibits a president from serving two terms of more than four years, whether consecutive or not.
Why did WIC get temporary funds but SNAP didn’t?
House Speaker Johnson told reporters that the Trump administration found creative ways to cover benefits under the Women, Infants and Children Program and pay for the military, but found no option to maintain the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Pentagon on Oct. 15 transferred funds to pay troops, but warned that option would not be available for the next paycheck on Oct. 31. Johnson said WIC continued because administrative lawyers discovered a 1930s-era statute that said customs revenue could fund the program because so much food was shipped across the border.
“They did creative and amazing things to reduce the pain as much as possible,” Johnson said.
But the administration’s lawyers could find no law to justify continuing SNAP benefits, which go to 42 million Americans and run out of funds on November 1.
“They did some legal research and couldn’t find any statute from the 1930s to make it themselves,” Johnson said. “It’s out of our control. That’s why we’re so frustrated.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) urged Senate Democrats to work with Republicans to reopen the government, citing the largest federal employee union as a reason for the change of direction.
On October 27, the American Federation of Public Employees issued a statement urging lawmakers to reopen government offices.
Mr Johnson told reporters on October 28: “The exit is now in sight. The biggest unions are saying they want this to happen.”
He said air traffic controllers are considered essential workers who will continue to work during the grounding but will not be paid, and they are distributing flyers at airports explaining the safety concerns caused by the grounding. More than 8,000 flights were delayed on October 26 as air traffic controllers became increasingly absent and faced non-payment of salaries for the first time on October 28.
“As we’ve discussed, some people rely on food banks to feed their families,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the No. 3 House leader.
Shut down ‘extremely stressful time’ for military families: House Veterans Affairs
Rep. August Pflueger (R-Texas), a veteran, told a Republican press conference that families of soldiers deployed overseas are worried about their paychecks drying up during the government shutdown.
“This is a very stressful time for military families,” said Pflueger, who served in the Air Force for 20 years and is now chairman of the Republican Research Committee.
Military families are worried about paying rent, buying groceries and filling their cars with gas while they fight to protect their country.
“The enemy is not yet inactive,” Pflueger added. “Our enemies around the world want us to be divided.”
Vance meets with Senate Republicans
Vice President J.D. Vance is scheduled to meet with Senate Republicans at their weekly luncheon on Tuesday.
While speaking about the government shutdown, he is expected to urge Republican lawmakers to vote against measures likely to be taken up by Congress this week to counter President Trump’s tariffs.
As the government shutdown continues, President Trump has been overseas in Asia, arriving in Japan on Tuesday to meet with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who became the country’s first female prime minister last week.
Trump is scheduled to return to the United States later Thursday.
President Trump visits Japan to meet Emperor and Prime Minister
President Donald Trump visited Japan and met with Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to discuss trade, investment, and defense.
Asked on Air Force One if there was a way to pay air traffic controllers amid the shutdown, Trump said: “Yes, but the Democrats should give a simple extension. They’re holding out for it.”
Democrats condemned Trump’s absence and called on Republicans to come to the negotiating table in his absence.
“Americans deserve a government that works as hard as they do,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “He is not the kind of leader who runs away from responsibility when it is most needed.”
The nation’s largest federal employee union on Monday called on lawmakers to end the government shutdown by passing a “clean” Republican-backed continuing resolution that does not include the extension of health care benefits demanded by Democrats.
The statement from the American Federation of Government Employees is pressuring Democrats to join them in approving a bill to fund the government that lacks the health care policy changes Democrats want.
“It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today,” AFGE President Everett Kelly said in a statement. “No half-measures, no gamesmanship. Let’s get all federal employees back to work now, on full pay.”
Republicans immediately touted the AFGE announcement and pressured Democrats to abandon efforts to include the extension of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance premium subsidies into government funding legislation.
Health care policy continues to be a dividing point for Democrats, 28 days into the federal government shutdown.
Senate Democrats have blocked Republican-backed continuing resolutions to fund the government at existing spending levels 12 times. Democrats say their reopening bill should also extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies and reverse Republican Medicaid cuts passed in the summer.
Republicans have refused to negotiate on health care policy, insisting that ACA subsidies should be debated in Congress after the shutdown ends.
Democrats have circled November 1 as a key date for their push. At that time, universal enrollment in the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, will begin and millions of Americans will begin purchasing health insurance plans in 2026.
If the subsidies aren’t extended by November, consumers on healthcare.gov could experience sticker shock when they start looking for health plans. If subsidies are not renewed, insurance premiums for millions of Americans are expected to double, according to research organization KFF.
X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.
