US judge blocks Trump administration from suspending Snap food aid benefits
A federal judge in Rhode Island has blocked the Trump administration’s plan to suspend all Snap food aid benefits for millions of Americans amid the ongoing government shutdown, Reuters reports.
US district judge John McConnell in Providence issued a temporary restraining order at the behest of cities, nonprofits and a union who argued the US Department of Agriculture’s suspension of Snap starting from Saturday was unlawful, and told the administration it “must distribute” aid using a set of emergency funds – and potentially other sources – and pay the benefits as soon as possible.
He ruled minutes after another judge in Boston ruled that the suspension was likely unlawful in a related case pursued by a coalition of Democratic-led states that also sought to avert the suspension.
That judge has ordered the Trump administration to indicate by Monday if it would provide either full or partial SNAP benefits in November.
“There is no doubt and it is beyond argument that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn’t already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food, for their family,” McConnell said during a virtual hearing.
Key events
A ground stop had been in effect at New York’s JFK airport until 7.30pm ET due to staffing shortages in the air traffic system, according to the New York City emergency management department, but according to Reuters, it was lifted around 3.30pm ET.
In a statement earlier on Friday, the New York City department had said that flights headed to JFK were being held at their departure airports.
The department also said that JFK, as well as nearby airports LaGuardia and Newark are all “under FAA traffic restrictions” this evening and are under ground delay programs due to staffing shortages and wind in the region.
As of 3.30pm, it seems as though the ground delays are still in place.
New York governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has called on the Trump administration to “release emergency nutrition assistance for the 3 million New Yorkers set to lose their SNAP benefits tomorrow”.
“No state should have to sue the federal government to ensure families can put food on the table,” she said. “But when Washington Republicans refused to act, New York took them to court to mitigate this crisis.”
Hochul said that her administration “remains prepared for the worst” and is “fast-tracking over $100 million for food banks and pantries” and has declared a state of emergency.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, the ranking member of the Senate agriculture committee, which oversees the food aid program, has released a statement following the court’s decision decision, saying that Trump officials “now have no excuse to withhold food assistance from Americans”.
“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,” said Klobuchar. “The court was clear: the administration is ‘required to use those Contingency Funds as necessary for the SNAP program.’”
If the administration decides not to issue Snap, Klobuchar said that 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” she added.
The day so far
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Two federal judges ruled almost simultaneously this afternoon that the Trump 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 US Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the program, which serves about one in eight (or 42 million) Americans.
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The US will not send any high-level officials to the upcoming Cop30 climate summit in Brazil, a White House official told Reuters, alleviating some concern among world leaders that Washington would send a team to scupper the talks.
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Public tours in the White House will resume in December, according to a statement from the office of the first lady. They had been suspended indefinitely in August amid construction for Trump’s controversial $300m ballroom project.
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Donald Trump denied that he is considering strikes inside Venezuela, even amid reports that his administration may expand its counter-drug campaign in the Caribbean. It comes as the UN high commissioner for human rights said today that US military strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean allegedly carrying illegal drugs from South America are “unacceptable” and must stop.
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The president reaffirmed that the US would resume nuclear testing, and did not answer directly when asked whether that would include the traditional underground nuclear tests common during the cold war. “You’ll find out very soon, but we’re going to do some testing,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One as he flew to Palm Beach, Florida, when asked about underground nuclear tests. “Other countries do it. If they’re doing to do it, we’re going to do it, okay?”
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A Republican-dominated Ohio panel adopted new US House districts that could boost the GOP’s chances of winning two additional seats in next year’s elections and aid Donald Trump’s efforts to hold on to a slim congressional majority. You can view the map here.
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Donald Trump has called on the Senate to scrap the filibuster, so that the Republican majority can bypass Democrats and reopen the federal government. The filibuster is a way for a relatively small group of senators to block action by the majority. The filibuster rule allows a minority of 41 senators to prevent a vote on most kinds of legislation. The Senate majority leader, John Thune, a Republican known for defending Senate traditions, has repeatedly rejected proposals to weaken or remove the 60-vote rule.
US judge blocks Trump administration from suspending Snap food aid benefits
A federal judge in Rhode Island has blocked the Trump administration’s plan to suspend all Snap food aid benefits for millions of Americans amid the ongoing government shutdown, Reuters reports.
US district judge John McConnell in Providence issued a temporary restraining order at the behest of cities, nonprofits and a union who argued the US Department of Agriculture’s suspension of Snap starting from Saturday was unlawful, and told the administration it “must distribute” aid using a set of emergency funds – and potentially other sources – and pay the benefits as soon as possible.
He ruled minutes after another judge in Boston ruled that the suspension was likely unlawful in a related case pursued by a coalition of Democratic-led states that also sought to avert the suspension.
That judge has ordered the Trump administration to indicate by Monday if it would provide either full or partial SNAP benefits in November.
“There is no doubt and it is beyond argument that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn’t already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food, for their family,” McConnell said during a virtual hearing.
US will not send officials to Cop30 climate talks, White House says
The US will not send any high-level officials to the upcoming Cop30 climate summit in Brazil, a White House official has told Reuters, alleviating some concern among world leaders that Washington would send a team to scupper the talks.
Brazil will host a high-level leaders’ summit next week before the two-week UN climate negotiations begin in the Amazonian city of Belem.
Earlier this month, the US threatened to use visa restrictions and sanctions to retaliate against nations that would vote in favor of a plan put forward by the United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from ocean shipping.
Those tactics led a majority of countries at the IMO to vote to postpone by a year a decision on a global carbon price on international shipping. The White House official said Donald Trump has already made his administration’s views on multilateral climate action clear in his astonishing speech at last month’s United Nations general assembly, where he called climate change the world’s “greatest con job” and chided countries for setting climate policies that he said “have cost their countries fortunes”.
“The president is directly engaging with leaders around the world on energy issues, which you can see from the historic trade deals and peace deals that all have a significant focus on energy partnerships,” the White House official told Reuters.
The Trump administration has pursued bilateral energy deals in its trade negotiations to boost US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports with countries like South Korea and also the European Union. On Friday, the US energy secretary, Chris Wright, said there is “room for great energy trade between China and the United States” given China’s need for natural gas as the two economic giants negotiate over tariffs.
Trump announced on his first day in office that the US would exit the 10-year-old Paris climate agreement, taking effect in January 2026, and the state department has been reviewing the US’s engagement in multilateral environmental agreements. Earlier this year, the US also put pressure on countries negotiating a global treaty to reduce plastic pollution not to back an agreement that would set plastic production caps.
The White House official told Reuters that “the tide is turning” on prioritizing climate change, pointing to a memo circulated this week by billionaire and longtime climate philanthropist and investor Bill Gates, who said it is time to pivot away from focusing on meeting global temperature goals and claimed that climate change will “not lead to humanity’s demise”.
White House to resume public tours in December
Public tours in the White House will resume in December, according to a statement from the office of the first lady.
“The White House will reopen its doors for public tours on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, with an updated route offering guests the opportunity to experience the history and beauty of the People’s House. In celebration of the holiday season, all December tours will feature the White House Christmas decorations on the State Floor,” it said.
Public tours were suspended indefinitely in August amid construction for Trump’s controversial $300m ballroom project.
China “made a real mistake” by threatening to shut off exports of its rare earths, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told the Financial Times (paywall) in an interview published today.
US and Chinese leaders had reached an “equilibrium” but warned that China would not be able to keep using its critical minerals as a coercive tool, Bessent told the paper, adding that China “made a real mistake” by “firing shots” on rare earths.
Trump denies that he is considering strikes within Venezuela
Donald Trump has denied that he is considering strikes inside Venezuela, even amid reports that his administration may expand its counter-drug campaign in the Caribbean.
The US has built up a large military presence in the Caribbean in recent months, with fighter jets, warships and thousands of troops. That presence will significantly expand in the coming weeks with the arrival of the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group.
In recent weeks, Trump has publicly said that his administration will carry out strikes against drug-related targets inside Venezuela.
But when asked today by reporters on Air Force One if media reports that he was considering strikes within Venezuela were true, Trump said: “No.”
Trump declines to rule out underground nuclear tests
Donald Trump reaffirmed today that the US would resume nuclear testing, and he did not answer directly when asked whether that would include the traditional underground nuclear tests common during the cold war.
“You’ll find out very soon, but we’re going to do some testing,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One as he flew to Palm Beach, Florida, when asked about underground nuclear tests.
“Other countries do it. If they’re doing to do it, we’re going to do it, okay?”
Yesterday the president said he had ordered the US military to immediately restart the process for testing nuclear weapons after a halt of 33 years, a move that appeared to be a message to rival nuclear powers China and Russia.
He made that surprise announcement on Truth Social while aboard his Marine One helicopter flying to meet Chinese president Xi Jinping for a trade-negotiating session in Busan, South Korea.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to nuclear-explosive testing, which would be carried out by the National Nuclear Security Administration, or flight testing of nuclear-capable missiles.
No nuclear power – other than North Korea most recently in 2017 – has carried out explosive nuclear testing in over 25 years.
Judges could rule on the fate of Snap food aid as deadline nears for shutdown to end payments
Two judges could rule as soon as today on whether the Trump administration must replenish Snap food aid benefits for November despite the government shutdown, the Associated Press reports.
The grocery-buying ability for about one in eight Americans could hinge on the outcomes.
Even if a judge rules the benefits cannot be suspended for the first time in Snap’s 61-year history, many beneficiaries are likely to face delays in getting the debit cards they use to buy groceries reloaded. That process can take one to two weeks, so it’s probably too late to get funds on cards in the first days of November.
In a hearing in Boston yesterday on a legal challenge filed by Democratic officials from 25 states, one federal judge seemed skeptical of the administration’s argument that Snap benefits could be halted.
US district judge Indira Talwani told lawyers that if the government can’t afford to cover the cost, there’s a process to follow rather than simply suspending all benefits. “The steps involve finding an equitable way of reducing benefits,” said Talwani.
Talwani seemed to be leaning toward requiring the government to put billions of dollars in emergency funds toward Snap. That, she said, is her interpretation of what Congress intended when an agency’s funding runs out.
“If you don’t have money, you tighten your belt,” she said in court. “You are not going to make everyone drop dead because it’s a political game someplace.”
Government lawyers say a contingency fund containing some $5bn cannot legally be used to maintain Snap, a program that costs about $8bn a month. The states say it must be used for that purpose and point to more money available in a second federal account with around $23bn.
Talwani said her ruling would apply nationwide, not just in the states that are part of the challenge. That could defy the intentions of the US supreme court, which has limited the use of nationwide injunctions, though it hasn’t prohibited them.
A hearing on a second, similar challenge filed by a coalition of cities and non-profit organizations is scheduled before a Rhode Island-based federal judge for today.
Any ruling in either case is likely to face an appeal.
Ohio panel adopts new US House districts that could help Republicans in next year’s election
A Republican-dominated Ohio panel has adopted new US House districts that could boost the GOP’s chances of winning two additional seats in next year’s elections and aid Donald Trump’s efforts to hold on to a slim congressional majority. You can view the map here.
The action by the Ohio Redistricting Commission comes as Trump has been urging Republican-led states to reshape their US House districts in an attempt to win more seats. But unlike in other states, Ohio’s redistricting was required by the state constitution because the current districts were adopted after the 2020 census without bipartisan support.
Ohio joins Texas, Missouri and North Carolina, where Republican lawmakers already have revised their congressional districts.
Democrats have been pushing back. California voters are deciding Tuesday on a redistricting plan passed by the Democratic-led legislature. And Democratic lawmakers in Virginia were voting Friday on a proposed constitutional amendment that, if adopted by voters, could allow lawmakers to redraw congressional districts in response to the actions elsewhere.
The political parties are in an intense battle, because Democrats need to gain just three seats in next year’s election to win control of the House and gain the power to impede Trump’s agenda.
Republicans already hold 10 of the 15 congressional seats in Ohio. The new map could boost Republican chances in districts currently held by Democratic representatives Greg Landsman in Cincinnati and Marcy Kaptur near Toledo.
What is the filibuster and why does Trump want to get rid of it?
Rachel Leingang
Donald Trump on Thursday suggested ending the filibuster to bring an end to the government shutdown, which has now passed one month with no signs of compromise on the horizon.
Both parties have previously defended or sought to dismantle the US Senate rule, depending on the moment and the contours of the debate.
“….BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAVE GONE STONE COLD ‘CRAZY,’ THE CHOICE IS CLEAR — INITIATE THE ‘NUCLEAR OPTION,’ GET RID OF THE FILIBUSTER AND, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” the US president wrote on Truth Social.
Need a refresher on the filibuster and why it matters? My colleague Rachel Leingang has this explainer on what you need to know:
More than 40 million Americans will stop receiving food stamps on 1 November, as the US government shutdown enters its fifth week.
The Department of Agriculture says the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) will be suspended until Congress reopens the government. While the Trump administration argues the department does not have the legal authority to use a $5bn contingency fund to continue the aid, Democrats disagree, and two dozen states have sued the government to force the program to continue.
Meanwhile, Democrats are also refusing to vote to end the shutdown because health insurance costs are set to go up dramatically as insurers prepare for a lapse in subsidies. Senate Democrats are demanding that any short-term government funding deal include an extension of the enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans, while Trump and the Republicans have said they will not negotiate until the government is back up and running. Extending the subsidies would require $350bn in federal spending over the coming decade.
We’d like to hear from Americans who are about to lose Snap food assistance due to the shutdown, as well as from people whose healthcare may become unaffordable due to rising premiums. Have you received any notices or paperwork that your insurance will change soon? Tell us using the link below:
Neither agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins nor House speaker Mike Johnson commented on the issue Democrats have been holding the government closed in order to address: health insurance premiums that will double, triple or more for people using healthcare insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act.
Instead, Johnson attributed the shutdown to a call for a “leftwing, radical agenda”.
Agriculture secretary rejects calls to use alternative funding for food stamps program
Name-checking New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and his “socialist rhetoric,” US secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins decried Senate Democrats who are holding out on opening the government.
Rollins described the shutdown as “disguising dereliction of duty, all to favor illegal aliens and other far left policies”.
The irony of attacking Democrats for supporting “socialist policies” while arguing in support of a public benefit for nutrition support went unremarked upon.
She described the call for the agriculture department to use alternative funding to cover Snap – as Donald Trump has drawn on to cover salaries for soldiers and other employees – as “a lie” and legally impossible.
Mike Johnson seeks to blame Democrats for Americans losing food benefits
US House speaker Mike Johnson spoke about millions of families suffering “because of Snap benefits drying up” during the government shutdown, while offering “a word of sincere gratitude” to millions of federal workers who have showed up without pay, “not knowing when or if their next paycheck will be delivered”.
“We just want to say thank you for your diligence … even though Democrats are withholding your paycheck. They are shameless in doing so.”
Johnson laid blame for the shutdown on Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats choosing not to approve a continuing resolution on funding the government. “The pain of the people is their political lever,” he said. “Republicans have done their part.”
US House speaker Mike Johnson will hold a press conference at 10am ET to discuss the ongoing federal government shutdown.
You can watch the briefing here.
