At a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins delivered a sweeping update on the nation’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), revealing what she called “rampant fraud” and announcing a dramatic escalation in the administration’s effort to force state compliance with federal oversight.
Rollins said that under the president’s tenure, “about 800,000” Americans have already moved off SNAP, a program serving 42 million people, and she argued the trend underscores the need to restore integrity to a system she said has been “abused for far too long.”
Rollins detailed new findings from the department’s data-matching initiative — an effort she said was repeatedly obstructed by blue states. “We found 500,000 people receiving benefits more than twice,” she said. “We had a couple of people receiving benefits in six states.” She noted that in February, USDA asked all 50 states to submit their SNAP recipient data so the federal government could help identify fraud. Twenty-one states, including California, New York, and Minnesota, refused. As a result, Rollins announced the administration will withhold federal funds from those states beginning next week unless they provide the data and “allow us to partner with them to protect the American taxpayer.”
The secretary also contrasted the current crackdown with the previous administration, stating that President Biden — “working to buy [the] election a year ago,” in her words — expanded the food-stamp budget by 40 percent.
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The confrontation over state cooperation intensified in mid-November when Rollins <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dead-men-dining-trump-admin-uncovers-astonishing-number-of-deceased-people-getting-snap-benefits?utm_source=chatgpt.com">disclosed</a> an alarming figure: 186,000 deceased individuals were receiving SNAP benefits, a number she said far exceeded the initial estimate of 5,000 in a single month. Rollins explained that on her first day in office, she asked states to share basic personal data for all SNAP recipients — names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, addresses — asserting the information was needed both to identify fraud and to ensure benefits were not going to illegal immigrants. She claimed Democrats opposed data-sharing because, in her view, their political strategy “depends on protecting illegal aliens.”
According to Rollins, 29 mostly red states complied, and the fraud numbers identified so far come only from those data sets. “Can you imagine when we get our hands on the blue-state data?” she said. She argued that full transparency will enable USDA to rebuild the program from the ground up, require every recipient to reapply, and make certain SNAP is reserved for Americans who “literally cannot survive without it.”

Lawmakers Continue Work On Capitol Hill As Shutdown Drags On

Trump Admin Warns Blue States: Give Us Food Stamp Data Or We Cut Off Funds

brooke rollins

Executive

Food Stamps

Politics

Secretary of Agriculture

SNAP

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) posted a performance piece on Sunday — wringing her hands as she blamed the recently-ended government shutdown on President Donald Trump and claimed that he had almost single-handedly ruined Thanksgiving because of it — and got an impromptu review from actress and filmmaker Justine Bateman.
Murray, who voted to keep the government closed — and thus deprive millions of Americans of their food stamp (SNAP) benefits — more than a dozen times, claimed that Trump and Republicans were taking major steps to deprive families of food assistance as the holidays approached. Her main point of contention appeared to be the fact that President Trump had refused to override her vote — and the votes of a majority of Democrats — and do what they would not do, and she insisted that he was the real reason families were being made to suffer.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It&#8217;s nearly Thanksgiving and everyone should remember that Trump fought all the way to the Supreme Court to deny families SNAP benefits this month.
All of this after Trump &amp; Republicans passed the largest cuts to SNAP in HISTORY this summer.
It&#8217;s fundamentally immoral. <a href="https://t.co/tiDol5wegG">pic.twitter.com/tiDol5wegG</a>
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) <a href="https://twitter.com/PattyMurray/status/1993010172328022208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It&#8217;s nearly Thanksgiving and everyone should remember that Trump fought all the way to the Supreme Court to deny families SNAP benefits this month. All of this after Trump &amp; Republicans passed the largest cuts to SNAP in HISTORY this summer. It&#8217;s fundamentally immoral,&#8221; she said.
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Bateman chimed in with her review, addressing everything from the actress and her demeanor to the staging and the setting chosen for the video.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SocialMediaVideoCritique?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SocialMediaVideoCritique</a> 
Per: <a href="https://twitter.com/sunnylohmann?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sunnylohmann</a> 
&#8211; There are many unfortunate issues with this piece. 
&#8211; The actress appears to be at once under-rehearsed, and also weary of the task of performing. 
&#8211; Careful casting is a must when a project has an exacting director. The impression… <a href="https://t.co/DlAxrq3NyE">https://t.co/DlAxrq3NyE</a>
— Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) <a href="https://twitter.com/JustineBateman/status/1993109927670505549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;There are many unfortunate issues with this piece,&#8221; Bateman began, starting in on Murray immediately. &#8220;The actress appears to be at once under-rehearsed, and also weary of the task of performing. Careful casting is a must when a project has an exacting director.&#8221;
&#8220;The impression given here is that the director&#8217;s efforts to elicit a proper performance caused the actress to check out during her takes,&#8221; Bateman continued. &#8220;The resulting dialogue delivery is halting. Awkward pauses within the compound word &#8216;Thanksgiving&#8217; and before some prepositions are perhaps an effort by the actress to sabotage the piece itself.&#8221;
When she&#8217;d finished with the actress and her awkward delivery, Bateman turned her attention to the staging of the shot — and some of the issues that a good camera operator would certainly have noticed before making the film public.
&#8220;The utilitarian lighting appears to have been applied hastily and implies a parking garage or other industrial settings,&#8221; she noted. &#8220;The camera frame is vertical with some hazy video filled in at the sides. Avoid this at all costs. This implies an amateur effort. Properly orient your camera horizontally.&#8221;
&#8220;Finally, the setting is extremely distracting. The first impression is that the actress is standing in a bathroom stall. The low wall on her left as the semi-private partition. The orange object on the floor appears to be a toilet with closed toilet seat cover,&#8221; Bateman concluded. &#8220;The silver pipe on the wall suggests an old-fashioned flush system, where the tank is installed above. And the red box serving as the &#8216;flush&#8217; button.&#8221;

Senators Hold Their Policy Luncheons At The Capitol

Dem Senator Posts Performance Piece Blaming Trump For Almost Killing Thanksgiving, Gets Lousy Review

Government Shutdown

Hollywood

Media

Thanksgiving

Nine states allow food stamps to be spent in restaurants, and two more are in the process of allowing it. The fact that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is buying taxpayer-funded meals at establishments like McDonald&#8217;s has triggered one Republican senator to introduce a bill to stop it.
More than half a billion dollars in taxpayer money went to paying for the indigent to dine out through the Restaurant Meals Program between June 2023 and May 2025, a new investigation by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) found.
&#8220;While franchises like McDonald’s are making McMillions off of SNAP RMP, allowing fast food to be purchased with food stamps is an idea that is a few fries short of a Happy Meal,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;The &#8216;N&#8217; in SNAP stands for &#8216;Nutrition,&#8217; and we all know fast food isn’t exactly nutritious,&#8221; she continued, alongside photos of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC locations advertising that they accept government benefit cards.
&#8220;McSCUSE ME?&#8221; Ernst <a href="https://x.com/SenJoniErnst/status/1991604757841203254">added on X</a>. &#8220;The amount of SNAP being spent at fast food should be $0 not McMillions.&#8221;
The Federal Agriculture Department, which funds the food stamp program, <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailer/restaurant-meals-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allows</a> states to optionally allow food stamp recipients to spend their money at restaurants if they are 60 years or older, disabled, the spouse of such a person, or homeless.
Ernst has introduced the &#8220;McStopping Chains from Using SNAP EBT to Make Entrees Act,&#8221; or the <a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/mcscuse_me_act.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">McSCUSE ME Act</a>, that would allow the elderly or disabled to get hot, prepared meals from deli counters and hot bars of grocery stores, but not from fast food chains. It would also remove spouses of qualified people from eligibility.
The SNAP program was already under scrutiny for allowing the indigent to purchase nearly anything edible, such as candy and soda, even as poor people are more likely to be obese than starving, leading to expensive medical care that is also paid for by taxpayers. Nearly 5,000 stores with words related to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/food-stamps-accepted-at-thousands-of-liquor-and-tobacco-stores-contributing-to-healthcare-fiasco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“liquor” or “tobacco”</a> in their names accept food stamps, a Daily Wire review of government data found.
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In the last year, conservative states have initiated bans on the purchase of soda — a move that states like New York have also pursued over the years, only to be blocked by the federal government, which must issue a waiver. Yet liberal states are moving in the opposite direction, with some newly adding fast food to the menu.
Oregon is running a <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/odhs/agency/pages/ssp-rmp.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;SNAP Restaurant Meals Program&#8221;</a> pilot based on a bill its legislature passed in 2024. It will apply to anyone 60 or older or who has a disability, as well as the homeless. <a href="https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=136655" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illinois</a> is piloting a restaurant meals program with the same criteria, except that it also extends eligibility to the spouses of people who are disabled or over 60. Restaurants must sign up with the state to accept food stamps.
Other states allowing food stamps at restaurants are Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia, though the vast majority of the spending is in California.
The move to curtail free soda was met with a lobbying campaign by lobbying groups representing soda and candy manufacturers, who rake in billions of dollars from the program. Ernst&#8217;s bill could be met by a similar move from fast food chains.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-maha-wins-12-states-cutting-soda-candy-from-food-stamps" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twelve</a> conservative states have announced plans to ban taxpayer-funded soda, while Kansas&#8217;s Democrat governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kansas-governor-laura-kelly-flip-flops-on-snap-soda-ban-vetoes-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vetoed</a> a bill passed by the state legislature to do so.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-can-food-stamps-buy-junk-food-how-doge-could-save-billions-and-maha" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Why Can Food Stamps Buy Junk Food? How DOGE Could Save Billions And MAHA</a>

The Hamburglar

‘McSCUSE ME?’: 11 States Allow ‘Nutritional’ Food Stamps To Be Spent At Fast Food Restaurants

Joni Ernst

McDonald’s

Welfare

Despite legacy media claims, illegal immigrants do indeed receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, commonly known as food stamps.
In fact, it&#8217;s estimated that millions of illegal immigrants are collecting food stamps.
Though SNAP data is hard to come by, seemingly intentionally so, a 2024 Survey of Income and Program Participation that’s been <a href="https://washingtonstand.com/article/major-study-finds-illegal-immigrants-collecting-taxpayerfunded-snap-benefits">analyzed</a> by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) gives us some insight.
CIS estimates that up to 4.5 million illegals are using SNAP, even though SNAP is restricted to applicants who have legal status.
Notably, only the applicant, in theory, must have legal status in the U.S. Members of households who indirectly benefit from food stamps do not have to disclose legal status.
Moreover, illegal immigrants are already permitted to use WIC, which is another welfare food program, though it&#8217;s more restrictive than SNAP.
CIS also found that 47% of all noncitizen households &#8212; which includes noncitizens with legal status &#8212; receive taxpayer-funded food assistance, be it WIC or SNAP, or both. 
In another eye-popping statistic, <a href="https://cis.org/Report/Welfare-Use-Immigrants-and-USBorn?">59.4% of illegal immigrant households</a> use at least one major welfare program, CIS estimates.
Much attention has been paid to the SNAP program since the recent Democrat-backed government shutdown, which is finally over. The program is massive and apparently had no real oversight before the Trump administration stepped in.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has openly called the program &#8220;extremely corrupt&#8221; and is undertaking a complete overhaul to root out fraud and abuse. Most notably, she&#8217;s having everyone on SNAP reapply for their benefits, which could potentially save taxpayers billions of dollars.
Currently, there are about 43 million people in the SNAP program, which is about 12% of the population. It costs taxpayers around $100 billion to fund annually.
Rollins said that when she became secretary, she realized SNAP was basically running on autopilot while experiencing this massive growth. She cited <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/usda-secretary-claimed-snap-benefits-120000322.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAIIcJr-nPpXfOHlcOx8vlilIpDidMmEGsXk9XHlASCVXFU-BjRq0b1SV6hBkN7TaDj4q9-1UHJSY4tn2u2RT49DPSkoiyoF_NrF1icqzJky4x6yKxEdV_RCce6HtYiIt59CRD6TvdKQh1QPXZqytMQbbTyJDsgX3O1IRjMczRj-">40% growth</a> during the COVID era.
After she was sworn in, Rollins asked every state to share their SNAP data to track down the fraud, but only 29 states complied, mostly red states. She said, so far, they&#8217;ve identified 186,000 deceased people receiving SNAP checks, 500,000 people getting two times the benefits they are supposed to, and individuals receiving benefits in multiple states.
The Trump administration is currently suing the remaining states, including New York and California, for their SNAP data. Rollins has suggested that the fraud and abuse exposed there will be even worse.
Rollins and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are also working together to push states to limit food and drink choices available for SNAP. Soda is one of the most commonly purchased items with food stamps, and <a href="https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/d1774be7-8a29-4ecc-996d-3bda421310f3/2023-erp-ch3-republican-response.pdf?">nearly 25%</a> of SNAP dollars go to soda and candy, and other junk food. So far, 11 states have asked for waivers to exclude soda and candy from SNAP – all red states except for Colorado.

Illegal immigrants

Yes, Millions Of Illegals Are Receiving Food Stamps

Illegal Immigration

Trump Administration

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with President Donald Trump late Friday night, temporarily blocking an order for the administration to somehow fully fund food stamps while Senate Democrats keep the government shut down.
The administration already planned to tap into emergency funds to partially pay out Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments to the tune of billions of dollars. Administration officials said it would be impossible to provide the remaining billions needed to fully fund the program without congressional action, noting that the shortfall was the fault of Congress, not the executive branch.
SNAP payments are made to a stunning 42 million Americans every month.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Judicial activism at its worst.
A single district court in Rhode Island should not be able to seize center stage in the shutdown, seek to upend political negotiations that could produce swift political solutions for SNAP and other programs, and dictate its own preferences for…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/1986940990146449762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
&#8220;Given the imminent, irreparable harms posed by these orders, which require the government to transfer an estimated $4 billion by tonight, the Solicitor General respectfully requests an immediate administrative stay of the orders pending the resolution of this application by no later than 9:30pm this evening,&#8221; the administration&#8217;s request said.
&#8220;Congress has failed to appropriate funds to pay for Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for this fiscal year,&#8221; the request continued. &#8220;The Executive Branch has since exhausted the entirety of its SNAP contingency reserve, which amounted to over $5 billion. But that will be only enough to cover partial payments for the month of November. Such a funding lapse is a crisis. But it is a crisis occasioned by congressional failure and one that can only be solved through congressional action.&#8221;
SCOTUS sided with Trump, and agreed to temporarily block the lower court order for 48 hours. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/07/ketanji-brown-jackson-supreme-court-snap-benefits-ruling-00643639?utm_source=chatgpt.com">issued</a> the stay.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
More from the administration&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCOTUS</a> filing over <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SNAP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SNAP</a> benefits &#8211; putting blame squarely on lawmakers:
&#8220;Congress has failed to appropriate funds to pay for Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for this fiscal year. The Executive Branch has 
since…
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShannonBream/status/1986950886644486149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨SNAP UPDATE: The Supreme Court has issued a temporary stay.
The Federal Government can&#8217;t just create money for food stamps when Democrats CHOOSE to not fund the government (14 times and counting🤦🏻‍♀️).
Activist judges have ordered reckless and unconstitutional legal maneuvers… <a href="https://t.co/kbh2izckOz">pic.twitter.com/kbh2izckOz</a>
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRollins/status/1987166731081498904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
“The core power of Congress is that of the purse, while the Executive is tasked with allocating limited resources across competing priorities,&#8221; the Department of Justice argued. &#8220;But here, the court below took the current shutdown as effective license to declare a federal bankruptcy and appoint itself the trustee, charged with picking winners and losers among those seeking some part of the limited pool of remaining federal funds.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
As our Supreme Court brief puts it:
“The core power of Congress is that of the purse, while the Executive is tasked with allocating limited resources across competing priorities. But here, the court below took the current shutdown as effective license to declare a federal…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/1986940996899262542?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
&#8220;The Supreme Court just granted our administrative stay in this case,&#8221; Attorney General Pam Bondi posted to X on Friday night. &#8220;Our attorneys will not stop fighting, day and night, to defend and advance President Trump’s agenda.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Supreme Court just granted our administrative stay in this case.
Our attorneys will not stop fighting, day and night, to defend and advance President Trump’s agenda. <a href="https://t.co/VJnf2GwPLk">https://t.co/VJnf2GwPLk</a>
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/1986985866900738242?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
Currently, the main webpage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that SNAP delays are due to Democrats, who have now voted 14 times to keep the government closed.
&#8220;Senate Democrats have voted 14 times against reopening the government. This compromises not only SNAP, but farm programs, food inspection, animal and plant disease protection, rural development, and protecting federal lands,&#8221; the USDA message reads. &#8220;Senate Democrats are withholding services to the American people in exchange for healthcare for illegals, gender mutilation, and other unknown &#8216;leverage&#8217; points.&#8221;

Group Photograph Of U.S. Supreme Court Justices

SCOTUS Sides With Trump On Food Stamp Funding During Shutdown

Congress

Ketanji Brown Jackson

Pam Bondi

Supreme Court

Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) says that the Democratic Party needs to “own the shutdown” as the government closure drags on into its second month.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper, Fetterman was asked about the lapsing of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on November 1, and who he blames for it.
“As you know, 42 million Americans, including two million Pennsylvanians, will not receive food stamp or SNAP benefits this month because funding officially lapsed yesterday. The White House says this is the fault of Democrats for shutting down the government. Democrats note that the Trump administration is not dipping into the contingency funds for SNAP and they think that Trump is doing that to pressure Democrats. How do you see it? Who do you blame for this?” asked Tapper.
Fetterman began by noting his distress at the notion of tens of millions of Americans losing their SNAP benefits, which is “one of the big reasons why I refuse to [shut] our government down.”
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“And again, I feel like the Democrats really need to own the shutdown. I mean, we&#8217;re shutting it down,” Fetterman added. “I know why they claim — because they want to address the tax credits, and I fully support that. I voted for all of their CRs, our CRs, every single time. And I refuse to put 42 million Americans in the kinds of food insecurity. … All is solved by just reopen[ing] our government and the people are now paid.”
Fetterman also noted that numerous unions and airlines are demanding that the Senate reopen the government: “And do we really want to make flying less safe by forcing this kind of situation and making things that much [more] stressed?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman on who he blames for the shutdown:
FETTERMAN: &#8220;I feel like the Democrats really need to own the shutdown. I mean, we&#8217;re shutting it down.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/ywSPMlJVwL">pic.twitter.com/ywSPMlJVwL</a>
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/1984998183479521367?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

John Fetterman

Fetterman To Democrats: ‘Own The Shutdown’ And Reopen Government Now

Democrats

U.S. Senate

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that all it would take for SNAP users to receive their benefits would be for five Democrats to “cross the aisle and reopen the government.”
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper, Bessent was asked about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) crisis impacting 42 million Americans.
After noting that President Trump needs to “hear from the courts” on a potential use of contingency funds to supplement SNAP as the government shutdown wears on, Bessent said the ball is in Democrats’ court.
“As you know, the best way for SNAP benefits to get paid is for Democrats, five Democrats, to cross the aisle and reopen the government, right?” the Treasury Secretary said.
“But there is this contingency fund, and as recently as September 30, the Agricultural Department had a memo saying that these funds, the contingency funds, I think it&#8217;s about $5 or $6 billion, could be used to pay these benefits — now it&#8217;d only be two or three weeks, but that&#8217;s a lot for people who need the who need the food,” Tapper said.
Bessent again noted that Trump is waiting on the courts, but “Democrats are in the middle of a civil war, and they should just open the government. That is the easiest way to do this.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sec. Scott Bessent: &#8220;The best way for SNAP benefits to get paid is for five Democrats to cross the aisle and reopen the government.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/nUrGHGcTCe">pic.twitter.com/nUrGHGcTCe</a>
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1984989657784816067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Tapper pressed Bessent on the courts: “Is the administration going to appeal the ruling by the judge? Is that what you mean by the courts need to weigh in, because the courts have weighed in.”
“No, but there&#8217;s a process that has to be followed, so we’ve got to figure out what the process is. President Trump wants to make sure that people get their food benefits,” Bessent replied.
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When asked if it could be accomplished by Wednesday, Bessent responded: “Could be — and five Democratic senators could cross the aisle and open the government by Wednesday.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on if the Trump Administration will use emergency funds to cover SNAP benefits.
BESSENT: &#8220;There&#8217;s a process that has to be followed. So, we got to figure out what the process is. President Trump wants to make sure that people get their food… <a href="https://t.co/MpyTqQBktq">pic.twitter.com/MpyTqQBktq</a>
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/1984992770700837072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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President Trump Signs Executive Order In The Oval Office

Bessent Blasts Dems On SNAP Crisis: ‘Cross The Aisle And Reopen Government’

Democratic Party

Donald Trump

Scott Bessent

President Donald Trump unloaded on Democrats — and posted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer&#8217;s (D-NY) office number for anyone who wanted to complain — after federal judges weighed in on whether or not Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits could be allowed to lapse amid the ongoing government shutdown.
Two federal judges — U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts and U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island — on Friday <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/31/us/trump-news">ordered</a> the Trump administration to continue paying out SNAP benefits despite the government shutdown, with McConnell further ordering the administration to tap into emergency funds in order to pay out the benefits &#8220;as soon as possible.&#8221; Talwani&#8217;s order gave the administration until November 3 to come up with a way to fund the program, but did not specify where those funds should come from.
Trump pushed back in a post shared on Truth Social, saying that he was instructing his attorneys to find the fastest way to fund the program and make sure that people could receive the assistance they needed — but he also pointed out the fact that Democrats were continuing to block Republican efforts to reopen the government, thus creating the current quandary.
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— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1984383011937534409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Our Government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available, and now two Courts have issued conflicting opinions on what we can and cannot do,&#8221; Trump began his post, adding, &#8220;I do NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT.&#8221;
&#8220;Therefore, I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible. It is already delayed enough due to the Democrats keeping the Government closed through the monthly payment date and, even if we get immediate guidance, it will unfortunately be delayed while States get the money out. If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay,&#8221; he continued.
&#8220;The Democrats should quit this charade where they hurt people for their own political reasons, and immediately REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT,&#8221; Trump concluded by referring people directly to Schumer&#8217;s office. &#8220;If you use SNAP benefits, call the Senate Democrats, and tell them to reopen the Government, NOW! Here is Cryin’ Chuck Schumer’s Office Number: (202) 224-6542.&#8221;

Trump Blisters Dems After Fed Judges Weigh In On Shutdown-Fueled Food Stamp Battle

Chuck Schumer

WASHINGTON—House Majority Whip Tom Emmer says that most Americans have not yet felt the brunt of the government shutdown. But, as the fight hits its 30-day mark, the Minnesota Republican warns: “this is the week it begins.”
“Democrats have caused a shutdown which is causing significant pain,” Emmer told The Daily Wire in an exclusive interview.
“Air traffic controllers didn&#8217;t get their first paycheck. More federal workers will not get a paycheck on Friday. SNAP benefits will lapse, in many states, unless they&#8217;ve got a governor who&#8217;s trying to figure out a way to fill the gap, 42 million low income Americans are going to be without their SNAP benefits because of this shutdown — caused solely by Democrats,” Emmer said.
The Department of Agriculture issued a <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/">statement</a> ahead of the looming November 1 deadline for funding for food stamps, saying that “Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).&#8221;
&#8220;Bottom line, the well has run dry,&#8221; the USDA statement says. &#8220;At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01.”
“It’s only going to get worse,” Emmer said, adding that the shutdown is causing “significant pain.”
Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan <a href="https://x.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1983966640535421421">reported</a> that Vice President JD Vance, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and aviation leaders held a press conference on Thursday, warning of major travel delays.
“A lot of our [air travel workers] can go through the miss of one paycheck &#8211; and it&#8217;s hard for them &#8230; none of them can get through two paychecks. If Democrats don&#8217;t get their act together very quickly, you&#8217;re going to see huge problems,” Duffy <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983968180306637304">said</a>.
CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/30/government-shutdown-delta-air-traffic-controllers.html">reported</a> Delta and United Airlines urged senators to pass the clean continuing resolution on Thursday.
“Missed paychecks only increases the stress on these essential workers, many of whom are already working mandatory overtime to keep our skies safe and secure,&#8221; the company reportedly said.
The military is feeling the effects of the shutdown as well.
Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger (R-Texas), a veteran, joined The Ben Shapiro Show on Thursday to <a href="https://x.com/RepublicanStudy/status/1983958850341306596">explain</a> how the government shutdown is impacting military readiness while putting financial strain on families who depend on their paychecks for rent, food, and other essentials.
On the Senate floor Thursday, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said open enrollment for the Health Insurance Marketplace begins in two days, and claimed Republicans have “spent the entire shutdown with their heads in the sand — the shutdown they caused — because they would not negotiate with Democrats.”
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WATCH: <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSchumer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenSchumer</a>: &#8220;Republicans have spent the entire shutdown with their heads in the sand &#8211; the shutdown they caused &#8211; because they would not negotiate with Democrats…&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/eW0FxCklJm">pic.twitter.com/eW0FxCklJm</a>
— Amber Jo Cooper (@AmberJoCooper) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmberJoCooper/status/1983913147925754113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
Schumer has <a href="https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/1975316482189107417">repeatedly</a> blamed Republicans for the shutdown and said they have control of the House, Senate, and White House.
Emmer said he believes Democrats have been “lying” about the shutdown since day one and noted there is a filibuster that needs 60 votes to pass off the floor. Given there are 53 Republicans, seven Democrats are needed to reopen the government.
On Wednesday, Democrats attempted to pass a funding bill for SNAP; however, Senate Majority Leader John Thune objected and demanded Democrats reopen the government.
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“YOU VOTED NO 13 TIMES!”: <a href="https://twitter.com/LeaderJohnThune?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LeaderJohnThune</a> is fired up on the Senate floor and objected to Sen. Lujan’s bill to fund SNAP food stamps and WIC nutrition programs.
“The senator from New Mexico is absolutely right, SNAP recipients shouldn’t go without food. People should be getting… <a href="https://t.co/aVWnRFnwO8">pic.twitter.com/aVWnRFnwO8</a>
— Amber Jo Cooper (@AmberJoCooper) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmberJoCooper/status/1983634998746927500?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
Thune said the bill was a “cynical attempt to provide political cover for Democrats, to allow them to carry on their government shutdown for the long-term.”
“They [Democrats] are directly responsible for any interruption of SNAP benefits. And the idea that this can be paid out of here, this can be paid out of there. Look, why don&#8217;t they just vote for the clean CR?” Emmer said.
It&#8217;s clear that Republicans are united behind the same message: the government must reopen.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has <a href="https://x.com/hakeemjeffries/status/1982965467385082093">repeatedly</a> said that House Republicans are on “vacation.&#8221; However, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has said the House has “done its work” in passing the continuing resolution a month ago.
Emmer said Republicans have been “working their tail off” in their districts while the Democrats “shut the government down.”
He said their offices are taking calls from constituents and they are trying to help them with “frankly, with a lot of problems that are being caused by the Democratic shutdown.”
“If [Jeffries] thinks we&#8217;re on vacation or he thinks more importantly that Democrat senators walking over to the Senate floor once a week, twice a week, and voting ‘no’ is ‘working.’ Well, that&#8217;s why he&#8217;s in the minority,” Emmer said.
He said that one way to see whose fault the shutdown is &#8211; would be to look at the mainstream media.
“How do you know that the Democrats are responsible for the shutdown? It should be the headline on every paper around the country. If it was Republicans that were responsible, it would be. But it hasn&#8217;t been &#8211; for 29 days,” Emmer said.
The Senate adjourned on Thursday until 3:00 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3. Another vote is expected to potentially reopen the government next week.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN)

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Arkansas has moved forward with banning the purchases of candy and soda with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps.
Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was one of the first governors in the nation to submit a waiver to the federal government, asking for approval to limit SNAP. This week, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins approved the waiver.
“This approval sends a clear message: President Trump and his administration are tackling America’s chronic disease epidemic, and Arkansas stands with him in that fight,” Sanders said of the approval, as first <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/06/10/exclusive-arkansas-bans-junk-food-food-stamps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by The Daily Signal.
“I am incredibly grateful for Secretary Rollins’ quick approval of our waiver. Arkansas leads the nation in getting unhealthy, ultra-processed foods off food stamps and helping our most vulnerable citizens lead healthier lives,” she added.
Rollins has previously said she&#8217;s working closely with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to advance the &#8220;Make America Healthy Again&#8221; movement. Kennedy, the figurehead of the MAHA movement, has called sugar &#8220;poison,&#8221; led the phasing out of petroleum-based food dyes, and encouraged states to limit SNAP.
Nebraska, another red state, has also been approved by the federal government to limit SNAP purchases to healthier options.
The Daily Wire spoke to Sanders earlier this month about Arkansas becoming a leading state in the MAHA movement. On SNAP limitations, Sanders said it only makes sense.
“It&#8217;s crazy to think that you can use food stamps to purchase soft drinks and candy, but not a hot rotisserie chicken,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire in a video interview. &#8220;The very definition of SNAP, if you look at the second word, it&#8217;s &#8216;nutrition.'&#8221; 
&#8220;There&#8217;s nothing nutritional about candy bars and Cokes,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;So making sure that we are actually helping the people who really need it, and help incentivize healthier choices is something we have to do.&#8221;
&#8220;The food stamp program is a $119 billion federally run program, but about $27 billion of that are spent on candy, soft drinks, and unhealthy desserts and snacks,&#8221; Sanders said. &#8220;So we are literally helping fund the epidemic crisis that we have going on of unhealthy lifestyles in our country, when we&#8217;re supposed to be helping these recipients of the food SNAP program.&#8221; 
&#8220;We can and we have to do a better job,&#8221; the Republican added. &#8220;I&#8217;m proud of the fact that Arkansas is again leading the way.&#8221; 
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sarah-sanders-wont-back-down-after-cvs-threatens-to-leave-arkansas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sarah Sanders Won’t Back Down After CVS Threatens To Leave Arkansas</a>

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