A federal food aid program that helps about one in eight Americans buy groceries stands to be paused Nov. 1 because of the government shutdown. Officials in Louisiana, Vermont and Virginia say they'll keep the programs alive, though how they'll do it isn't clear. Even some states that want to step in to fill the gap have found they can’t. Recipients of the food aid, food banks, states and advocates are bracing for a pause to payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at the end of next week. Some states have looked into funding food assistance themselves but they're finding that federal control of some key details of the program is a major obstacle.
Associated Press photos show the entire White House East Wing has been demolished as President Donald Trump moves ahead with building a ballroom. The two-story structure of drawing rooms and offices, including a walkway to the White House, has been turned into rubble. The wing was demolished as part of the Republican president’s plan to build a ballroom nearly twice the size of the White House itself that he now says will cost $300 million. Trump said Wednesday that keeping the East Wing would have “hurt a very, very expensive, beautiful building,” referring to the ballroom that he said presidents have wanted for years.
The government shutdown has reopened debate on the future of health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Tax credits for people who get health insurance through the law expire at the end of the year. Democrats say they won’t vote to reopen the government until Republicans negotiate an extension of the subsidies. Republicans say they won't negotiate that issue until the government reopens. As lawmakers debate, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds about 6 in 10 Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about their health costs going up in the next year.
As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, President Donald Trump is welcoming Senate Republicans for lunch at the White House. It's not for urgent talks on how to end the shutdown, but a celebratory display of unity as they refuse to negotiate on Democratic demands for health care funds. Trump is praising GOP leaders by name. But Senate Democrats are also expressing confidence in their strategy to keep voting against a House-passed bill that would reopen the government until Trump and other Republicans engage them. Democrats want to extend health care subsidies that are expiring. Trump says he'll discuss health care, but only after the government reopens.
Head Start programs that serve tens of thousands of the nation’s neediest preschoolers are facing a cutoff of federal funding at the end of the month because of the government shutdown. That would leave many programs scrambling to figure out how to keep their doors open. The early education initiative is funded almost entirely by the federal government, making it particularly vulnerable to funding disruptions. The programs are run by schools, local governments and nonprofits. The programs receive new grants annually and are not allowed to carry over unspent money.
Large crowds of protesters have gathered in cities across the United for “No Kings” demonstrations against what they see a drift into authoritarianism under President Donald Trump. People carrying signs with slogans such as “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism” packed into New York City’s Times Square on Saturday. They rallied by the thousands in parks in Boston, Atlanta and Chicago. There were also demonstrations outside capitols in several Republican-led states and hundreds of smaller public spaces. Republicans disparaged the demonstrations as “Hate America” rallies, but in many places the events looked more like a street party.
The Department of Energy says it has finalized a $1.6 billion loan guarantee to a subsidiary of one of the nation’s largest power companies to upgrade nearly 5,000 miles of transmission lines across five states, mostly in the Midwest, for largely fossil fuel-run energy. The project by AEP Transmission, a subsidiary of Ohio-based American Electric Power, will help meet surging electricity demand from data centers and artificial intelligence. The project will upgrade power lines in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and West Virginia. Thursday’s announcement deepens the Trump administration’s commitment to traditional, polluting energy sources even as it works to discourage the U.S. from clean energy use.
About 40 million people could see food assistance disappear next month if the federal government shutdown continues. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has told states not to send the companies that issue debit cards for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program November's information yet. And at least some states have stopped approving new applications for SNAP. It's possible that the government could find funding to keep the program going even if the shutdown continues, but at $8 billion a month, that would be a challenge. State officials say a pause in benefits would be a blow to families and the broader economy.
Dozens of reporters have turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon rather than agree to restrictions on their work. News outlets were nearly unanimous Wednesday in rejecting new reporting rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The rules that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information that had not been approved by Hegseth for release. The nation’s leadership called the new rules “common sense” to help regulate a “very disruptive” press. It is unclear what practical impact the new rules will have. News organizations vowed they’d continue robust coverage of the military no matter the vantage point.
President Donald Trump has awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously to Charlie Kirk on Tuesday. The activist, who inspired a generation of young conservatives and helped push the nation’s politics further to the right, was killed at a university event last month. The government shutdown has also entered its 14th day. Democrats have focused on trying to keep Affordable Care Act subsidies from expiring for millions of Americans. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he “won’t negotiate” unless Democrats first agree to reopen the government, losing their leverage for any deal. Trump’s budget director has vowed to keep firing federal workers during the shutdown.