The Latest: Trump administration must fund SNAP payments during the shutdown, judges rule
By The Associated Press
Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown.
The rulings came a day before the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 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. Word in October that it would be a Nov. 1 casualty of the shutdown sent states, food banks and SNAP recipients scrambling to figure out how to secure food. Some states said they would spend their own funds to keep versions of the program going.
It wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the debit cards that beneficiaries use to buy groceries could be reloaded after the ruling. That process often takes one to two weeks.
Here’s the latest:
Senate Democrats urge top Trump national security officials to brief lawmakers on Venezuela strikes
The renewed request came in a letter Friday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
“We also request that you provide all legal opinions related to these strikes and a list of the groups or other entities the President has deemed targetable,” the senators said in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
Signatories included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as well as Jack Reed, Jeanne Shaheen, Mark Warner, Chris Coons, Patty Murray and Brian Schatz.
The letter said the administration so far “has selectively shared what has at times been contradictory information” with some members “while excluding others.”
Democrats and some Republicans have complained that the administration has failed to provide basic information about lethal strikes that U.S. forces have carried out against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific the last two months.
Trump opens the door for sanctions on Nigeria over alleged persecution of Christians
The president announced Friday that he would designate the West African nation “a country of particular concern” as it relates to religious freedom, a move that has been pushed by some U.S. lawmakers.
The designation does not necessarily mean that sanctions, which could include a ban on all non-humanitarian aid, will be imposed, but it is a step ahead of that.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria,” Trump said via social media. “Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a ‘COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.’”
Nigeria vehemently rejects such claims about persecution of Christians. Analysts say that while Christians are among those targeted, the majority of victims of armed groups are Muslims in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north, where most attacks occur.
Trump said he would ask lawmakers to look into the matter and report back on what the response to the designation should be.
Union president for air traffic controllers says ‘end this shutdown’
The president of the union representing air traffic controllers is calling on Congress to pass a clean continuing resolution to end the government shutdown, make sure federal workers get paid and then engage in bipartisan negotiation on other pressing issues.
Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the workers the union represents got no paycheck on Tuesday after receiving a partial check two weeks earlier. He said going without a full month’s pay or more would be unsustainable.
Daniels also said the situation is creating substantial distractions for individuals already engaged in extremely stressful work.
“The financial and mental strain increases risks within the National Airspace System, making it less safe with each passing day of the shutdown,” Daniels said in a statement.
Top Senate Judiciary Democrat challenges YouTube’s claims of Biden censorship
Attorneys for YouTube’s parent company Alphabet last month sent the Senate Judiciary Committee a letter claiming the Biden administration pressed the social media site to delete content during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Sen. Jamie Raskin, the committee’s Democratic ranking member, on Friday publicly questioned that assessment in his own letter to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan.
Raskin wrote that the sworn testimony of 20 Alphabet employees contradicted the claims the company had made. He questioned whether YouTube was coerced to claim censorship by the Trump administration.
“What was Alphabet promised or threatened with in order to dance to this new MAGA tune?” Raskin asked in Friday’s letter.
Republicans argue the Biden administration illegally censored Americans through coercion to tech companies. Democrats dispute that narrative.
Judge sides with Democratic groups that sued over Trump’s proof-of-citizenship directive
The federal judge ruled that Trump’s request to add a documentary proof of citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form is an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers.
The ruling deals a blow to the administration and its allies who have argued that such a mandate is necessary to restore public confidence that only Americans are voting in U.S. elections.
“Because our Constitution assigns responsibility for election regulation to the States and to Congress, this Court holds that the President lacks the authority to direct such changes,” U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., wrote in her opinion.
Kollar-Kotelly echoed comments she made when she granted a preliminary injunction over the issue.
Senators press Hegseth for more information on boat strikes
The Republican chair and ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee have asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide the legal rationale for the U.S. military’s fatal attacks on alleged drug boats off the South American coast.
The senators also requested the directives Hegseth approved for the military strikes, which have killed at least 61 people in 14 attacks since early September. They also want the list of drug cartels that the Trump administration has designated as terrorist organizations in its justification for the use of military force.
The requests were made in two letters from late September and early October that were released Friday by Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island.
Lawmakers in both parties have raised questions about the use of military force without congressional approval. The Trump administration has shown no evidence to support its claims about the boats that have been attacked, their connection to drug cartels, or even the identity of the people killed in the strikes.
Top Democrat says Trump administration must release SNAP funds after judge’s ruling
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture committee that oversees the food aid program, said the court’s decision “confirms what we have said all week: The administration is choosing not to feed Americans in need, despite knowing that it is legally required to do so.”
The district court’s decision leaves “no excuse to withhold food assistance from Americans,” she said.
If the administration decides not to issue SNAP funds, she said, “it is purely a cruel political decision, not a legal one. They should immediately act — as the court has required — to ensure food assistance continues to go to families in need.”
Judges in the SNAP payment lawsuits expect updates by Monday
A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled from the bench that the program must be funded using at least the contingency funds — and asked for an update on progress by Monday.
A Massachusetts-based judge also gave the administration until Monday to say whether it would partially pay for the benefits for November with contingency money or fund them fully with additional funds.
It wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the debit cards that beneficiaries use to buy groceries could be reloaded after the ruling.
That process often takes one to two weeks.
The rulings are likely to face appeals.
Senate Republicans reject Trump’s call to eliminate the filibuster
Trump has long pushed Senate Republicans to get rid of the rule that requires 60 votes to overcome objections and gives the minority Democrats a check on GOP power. He posted on social media late Thursday that the Senate should “Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!”
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly said he is not considering changing the rules even as he seeks to end the shutdown, arguing that the filibuster is vital to the institution of the Senate and has allowed them to halt Democratic policies when they are in the minority.
The leader’s “position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged,” Thune spokesman Ryan Wrasse said Friday.
A spokeswoman for Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican, said his position opposing a filibuster change also remains unchanged.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also defended the filibuster Friday, while conceding “it’s not my call.”
“The safeguard in the Senate has always been the filibuster,” Johnson said, adding that Trump’s comments are “the president’s anger at the situation.”
Trump administration must fund SNAP payments during the shutdown, judge rules
Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must to continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown.
The rulings came a day before the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 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. Word in October that it would be a Nov. 1 casualty of the shutdown sent states, food banks and SNAP recipients scrambling to figure out how to secure food. Some states said they would spend their own funds to keep versions of the program going.
The program costs around $8 billion per month nationally.
Trump says he’s renovated the Lincoln Bathroom
The president announced the renovation and posted side-by-side photos of the before and after of the rehab of the bathroom attached to one of the most famous rooms in the White House.
“It was renovated in the 1940s in an art deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era,” Trump added. “I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble. This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!”
White House set to resume public tours in December, after interruption for ballroom construction
The White House says tours will restart Dec. 2, following their suspension for months due to the construction of Trump’s $300 million ballroom.
The East Wing was once part of tour routes, but has been demolished as part of the project.
The White House says it’ll now offer “an updated route offering guests the opportunity to experience the history and beauty of the People’s House.”
To mark the holidays, December tours feature Christmas decorations curated by first lady Melania Trump on the State Floor.
Congressional offices can begin submitting tour requests for their constituents on Monday. Such requests had been paused since the summer for ballroom construction.
Heritage Foundation head defends Tucker Carlson for hosting white nationalist with antisemitic views
The president of the Heritage Foundation, a prominent Republican-aligned think tank, defended conservative media personality Tucker Carlson after he offered a platform to a far-right activist known for pushing white nationalist and antisemitic views.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts posted a video to social media Thursday in which he denied that the group was “distancing itself” from the former Fox News host after Carlson’s podcast hosted Nick Fuentes, whose followers see themselves as trying to preserve America’s white, Christian identity.
Roberts’ video drew sharp rebukes from some prominent Jewish leaders from both parties.
Carlson, one of the most powerful voices on the right, has been critical of the U.S.’s support for Israel in its war with Hamas and has come under fire for his own far-right views, including the white-supremacist theory that says whites are being “replaced” by people of color.
▶ Read more about Carlson and the Heritage Foundation
Trump won’t clarify if the US will conduct tests of its nuclear weapons
The president was asked if his social media post this week about nuclear tests meant that the U.S. would resume testing its nuclear weapons in underground detonation tests, which it has not done since 1992. He replied: “You’ll find out very soon,” without elaborating.
Trump said, “We’re going to do some testing” and “Other countries do it. If they’re going to do it, we’re going to.” But he then refused to offer more details.
Trump’s comments on nuclear testing have drawn confusion inside and outside the government when the president seemed to suggest on social media that the U.S. would resume nuclear warhead tests for the first time in three decades on an “equal basis” with Russia and China, whose last known tests were in the 1990s.
House cancels Monday votes as shutdown continues
Republican leadership has called off votes for Monday in the House as Speaker Mike Johnson sticks with his strategy of keeping the chamber out of legislative session during the government shutdown.
Members of the House have not been in Washington for a legislative session since Sept. 19, when the chamber passed a temporary funding bill that has failed to advance in the Senate.
Johnson has said the onus is on Senate Democrats to help pass that bill and that a small number within the House conference “three to four members” have “only mildly questioned working in the districts as opposed to being here on the floor.” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has accused House Republicans of being on “vacation” as he calls for the House to return to legislative session.
Trump says ‘no’ when asked if he’s considering strikes in Venezuela
The president, who spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One as he heads to Florida for the weekend, gave a brief answer and did not elaborate when asked if he was considering strikes on land in Venezuela.
The Trump administration has carried out a series of strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific Ocean, saying the vessels were carrying drugs. The strikes have killed 61 people and the U.S. has also built up an unusually large force of warships in the region.
Pennsylvania to send money to food banks
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is working to send more money to food banks in Pennsylvania as federal SNAP benefits could be suspended for the first time in the food aid program’s history because of the government shutdown.
The governor’s office said he is shifting $5 million in state aid to go out to food banks, sign an emergency disaster declaration and raising private donations, now at $1 million, to support food banks.
Many other states are taking similar steps before benefits end tomorrow, unless a federal court steps in and orders SNAP assistance to continue. Pennsylvania typically gets about $366 million a month in SNAP funds for 2 million enrollees.
Shapiro, a Democrat, otherwise has said Pennsylvania doesn’t have the money to backfill cuts to federal benefits.
Trump’s demand to end filibuster ‘not my call,’ House speaker says
Speaker Mike Johnson said he texted with the president after Trump’s late night demand to change the Senate rules to end the government shutdown.
But the GOP leader but refused to publicly weigh in the issue that deeply divides the senators.
“It’s not my call,” Johnson said during his daily press conference at the Capitol, day 31 of the shutdown.
Trump’s Agriculture Secretary Rollins says she can’t release SNAP funds
Brooke Rollins says her department can’t unleash contingency funds to ensure SNAP food aid doesn’t cut off Saturday.
And even if it could, she said, the funds would barely cover costs of the program.
A lawsuit to force the administration to release the funds is now pending.
Speaking at a press conference with House Speaker Mike Johnson at the Capitol, she blamed Democrats for conducting a “disgusting dereliction of duty” as they refuse to reopen given and hold out for health care funds.
US defense chief vows to ‘stoutly defend’ Indo-Pacific interests in talks with China
The U.S. Secretary of Defense said Friday he told his Chinese counterpart during talks in Malaysia that Washington would “stoutly defend” its interests in the Indo-Pacific. He also signed a new agreement aimed at strengthening security ties with India.
Pete Hegseth described as “good and constructive” his meeting with Chinese Admiral Dong Jun, held on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations defense ministers meeting in Kuala Lumpur. He said he raised U.S. concerns over Chinese activities in the South China Sea, around Taiwan and toward U.S. allies and partners in the region.
“I highlighted the importance of maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on social media platform X. “United States does not seek conflict (but) it will continue to stoutly defend its interests and ensure it has the capabilities in the region to do so.”
China’s defense ministry issued a cautious response, emphasizing its longstanding positions. Dong Jun stressed the reunification of China and Taiwan is an “unstoppable historical trend” and urged the U.S. to be cautious in its words and actions on the Taiwan issue, the statement said.
▶ Read more about the meeting at APEC
Advocates allege ‘inhumane’ conditions at Chicago-area ICE facility in new lawsuit
Attorneys with the ACLU of Illinois and the MacArthur Justice Center say ICE agents have denied people being held at the Broadview facility private calls with attorneys and also coerced them into signing paperwork they don’t understand, leading some people to unknowingly relinquish their rights and face deportation.
The lawsuit, which was filed Friday, also alleges that people at the facility have been denied food, water, hygiene and medical care, and places to sleep and shower.
Alexa Van Brunt, lead attorney for the lawsuit, said community members are “being kidnapped off the streets, packed in hold cells, denied food, medical care, and basic necessities, and forced to sign away their legal rights.”
▶ Read more about the lawsuit
