California National Guard assists Los Angeles food banks as SNAP benefits expire
The government shutdown ended food assistance benefits on Nov. 1, prompting the National Guard to assist food banks in Los Angeles.
President Donald Trump hosted a 1920s-themed party at Mar-a-Lago on October 31, as the government shutdown continues and multiple federal judges rule that the administration cannot cut off funding for food aid.
The party was labeled as “a little party that didn’t kill anyone,” according to multiple media attendees. The title is taken from a song on the soundtrack of the 2013 film The Great Gatsby.
According to ABC News, those in attendance included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump, and their husbands Jared Kushner and Michael Boulos. Trump did not speak while in the presence of reporters, the network said.
Guests were seen imitating clothing from the Roaring Twenties era. This was the period just before the Great Depression, when historians point to staggering income inequality. History.com points out that in 1928, the top 1% of households received 23.9% of all pre-tax income, and about 60% of households had incomes below the income level that the Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies as the minimum livable income for a family of five.
The party has drawn harsh criticism from Democrats amid an extended federal government shutdown, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom saying on social media that President Trump “doesn’t care about you.”
“The way he rubs the inhumanity of the American people in his face never ceases to amaze me,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said on the X show. “He’s illegally refusing to pay food stamp benefits…all the while hosting outrageously over-the-top Gatsby parties for his right-wing billionaire and corporate friends.”
White House press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to ABC News that Democrats are “full of it.” “President Trump has consistently called for us to do the right thing and reopen the government, which is always possible,” Kelly said.
Order to resume SNAP benefits
Within minutes, judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island issued orders on Oct. 31 requiring the department to use $5.25 billion in contingency funds to continue the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP or food stamps.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell ruled in Rhode Island that “there is no question or dispute that irreparable harm will begin to occur if the fear it has caused some people about securing food funds for their families has not already occurred.”
SNAP benefits for 42 million low-income Americans were scheduled to end on November 1st. But the Rhode Island Council of Churches, the National Council of Nonprofits, several other nonprofits and the mayor filed a federal lawsuit seeking to keep the program open.
Justice Department lawyers have argued that the program, which spends up to $9 billion a month, cannot be partially funded from a $5 billion emergency fund.
Massachusetts District Court Judge Indira Talwani ruled against that argument, saying the government has the option of providing reduced benefits in reserve funds or moving other discretionary funds to make up the shortfall.
In a short written order, McConnell directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to utilize emergency funds to continue providing benefits. The government was asked to report on the distribution status by noon on November 3.
“For now, these families will be able to keep food on the table, and thousands of nonprofit food banks, pantries and other organizations across the country will be able to avoid the impossible burden that would have occurred if SNAP benefits had been suspended,” said Diane Yentel, CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits.
President Trump insisted on Truth Social that the government would fund SNAP with “appropriate legal direction from the courts.”
