President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday that it will partially fund SNAP after a pair of judges’ rulings required it to keep the food aid program running.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture had planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown. The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. It costs about $8 billion per month nationally.
It’s not clear how much beneficiaries will receive, nor how quickly beneficiaries will see value show up on the debit cards they use to buy groceries. The process of loading the SNAP cards, which involves steps by state and federal government agencies and vendors, can take up to two weeks in some states. The average monthly benefit is usually about $190 per person.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the nation’s largest food program, said last month that benefits for November wouldn’t be paid out due to the federal government shutdown. That set off a scramble by food banks, state governments and the nearly 42 million Americans who receive the aid to find ways to ensure access to groceries.
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Disney asks YouTube TV to bring ABC back for Election Day
A bitter carriage dispute between Disney and YouTube TV has left customers of Google’s livestreaming platform without channels like ABC or ESPN for several days now. But Disney said it has requested a partial reprieve for Tuesday’s elections.
“We believe in putting the public interest first and hope YouTube TV will take this small step for their customers while we continue to work toward a fair agreement,” the entertainment giant said in a statement.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
When the dispute reached its boiling point last week, YouTube TV maintained that Disney was proposing terms that would be too costly for its subscribers. Meanwhile, Disney said the streamer had refused to pay fair rates.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus launches effort to ‘overhaul ICE’
“I think that they should be restructured totally. This is urban warfare—what they’re doing is unacceptable,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said in a statement.
The caucus, which includes all Hispanic Democrats in Congress, will develop a framework alongside the Hispanic Federation and other advocacy groups to “restore accountability, protect civil rights, and ensure that no community lives in fear of those sworn to serve them,” said Espaillat.
The framework focuses on reform, oversight and transparency efforts at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some progressive Democrats, including some Hispanic Caucus members, have called for the abolition of ICE.
The Congressional Hispanic Conference, which consists of all Hispanic Republicans, in June urged the Trump administration to focus enforcement efforts on violent criminals instead of “individuals who do not constitute an immediate threat to public safety.”
Senate GOP leader ‘optimistic’ for shutdown deal this week
Majority Leader John Thune made brief comments as he opened the Senate for the week.
Asked if he was confident, he turned at the chamber doorway and said, “Don’t push it.”
California’s Newsom and Pelosi urge passage of measure to redraw US House maps
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said a measure on Tuesday’s election ballot that would redraw U.S. House maps wasn’t about drawing lines, but about standing up to a bully.
The ballot measure would create partisan U.S. House maps outside of routine once-a-decade redistricting that in California is handled by an independent commission. It’s an effort by Newsom, a Democrat, to counter a Trump-backed plan in Texas to gain five more Republican seats.
Newsom, a leading critic of Trump and possible candidate for the White House in 2028, spoke Monday to a labor union hall full of cheering union workers about to phone bank in effort to pass Proposition 50.
“They poked the bear, and the bear is poking back,” he said, as the room erupted in applause.
Newsom was joined on stage by former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic representatives from California, who all spoke of the damage they said Trump’s administration has done.
Democrats weigh in on partially funding SNAP
Top Democrats in the Senate aren’t satisfied with the Trump administration committing to partially funding the food assistance program known as SNAP.
The program costs about $8 billion per month nationally. The government says an emergency fund it will use during the government shutdown has $4.65 billion — enough to cover about half the normal benefits.
“USDA has the authority to fully fund SNAP and needs to do so immediately. Anything else is unacceptable,” tweeted Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
“Trump should have paid SNAP benefits all along,” tweeted Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. “Just now paying the bare minimum to partially fund SNAP is not enough, and it is not acceptable.”
Leader Jeffries predicts ‘significant’ Democratic victories in Tuesday’s election
Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle are closely watching Tuesday’s election, particularly the high-profile gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia.
“America’s heading in the wrong direction. And there is a better way that Democrats are offering,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Monday. “And that’s why I believe we’re going to see significant Democratic victories across America.”
The results could offer the clearest indication yet of how the messaging in the shutdown fight is resonating with voters. Jeffries said the election will show Democrats “are on the right side of the American people.”
“That’s what this fight has been all about,” he said.
Arkansas to deploy 100 National Guard members to DC
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday she’s approved the deployment of 100 National Guard members to Washington, D.C. to support the DC guard’s “ongoing civil security operations.”
Sanders’ office said the guard members will assemble in the coming weeks and move to the Washington region after Thanksgiving. The mission is expected to last several months.
Trump is scheduled for New Jersey, Virginia tele-rallies
President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak Monday evening at telephone rallies in the two states that will be electing governors on Tuesday’s off-year elections.
Trump has previously endorsed Republican Jack Ciattarelli in New Jersey and held a telephone rally for him last month. But he had not declared support for Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee in Virginia.
Former President Barack Obama rallied on Saturday with the Democratic candidates Mikie Sherrill, in New Jersey, and Abigail Spanberger, in Virginia, urging voters to cast their vote to reject Trump’s policies 10 months into his second presidency.
Georgia senator calls on Trump to broker SNAP negotiations
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia on Monday visited a market near downtown run by Goodr, an group that provides food.
Warnock said Trump chose SNAP benefits at risk.
“SNAP recipients were not in this fight,” Warnock said.” They were dragged into this fight by the administration. And so I want you to think about this: They are literally pitting sick people against hungry people. I can’t think of anything more craven than that.”
The Georgia Democrat called on Trump to broker negotiations.
“What has he been doing during the shutdown?” Warnock asked. “I think there was a ‘Great Gatsby’ Halloween party over the weekend, putting a wrecking ball to the East Wing of the White House, while putting a wrecking ball to our economy.”
Warnock dismissed talk of Senate Republicans abolishing the filibuster to pass spending legislation and end the shutdown.
“If you don’t have the votes, common sense says you have to talk to the people in the other party,” he said.
Trump administration says SNAP will be partially funded after judges’ rulings
President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday that it will partially fund SNAP after a pair of judges’ rulings required it to keep the food aid program running.
It’s not clear how much beneficiaries will receive, nor how quickly beneficiaries will see value show up on the debit cards they use to buy groceries. The process of loading the cards, which involves steps by state and federal government agencies and vendors, can take up to two weeks in some states. The average monthly benefit is usually about $190 per person.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the nation’s largest food program, said last month that benefits for November wouldn’t be paid out due to the federal government shutdown. That set off a scramble by food banks, state governments and the nearly 42 million Americans who receive the aid to find ways to ensure access to groceries.
Most states have boosted aid to food banks, and some are setting up systems to reload benefit cards with state taxpayer dollars.
▶ Read more about SNAP funding
Trump predicts Democrats will capitulate to Republicans
“I think they have to,” Trump said during the “60 Minutes” interview. “And if they don’t vote, it’s their problem.”
With Senate Democrats now voting 13 times against reopening the government, insisting they need Trump and Republicans to negotiate with them first, Trump said Republican leaders should change Senate rules and scrap the filibuster.
“Republicans have to get tougher,” Trump told CBS. “If we end the filibuster, we can do exactly what we want.”
Senate Republicans have repeatedly rejected that idea, arguing that requiring 60 votes to overcome any objections is vital to the Senate, and has allowed them to stop Democratic policies when they’re in the minority.
By The Associated Press
